Spring 2015 thread (Northern Hemisphere) (tornado, snow, Chicago, days)
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Eh, Atlanta averages 80F for highs in May so even if May is somewhat warmer than average you have plenty of sub-90F days left. The clock is ticking, though, to the extent that it would take a big-time cold pattern to provide much of anything in the way of truly cool weather for your area.
I like dry heat more than humid heat, and drought tends to produce dry heat more than a wet pattern; then again, the norm in the South is for drought to be accompanied by high dew points anyway .
If I had god-like powers the simplest thing to do for the Southeast would be to replicate the Ethiopian Highlands in that region - the Roof of Africa is 800 miles wide and 600 miles long, which would take care of most of the Southeast. Now, this is geographic powers rather than meteorological, but seriously, mountains offer the best bang for the buck, not only improving the climate but also improving and diversifying the landscape, vegetation, and views; in your region, just look at the difference between the climates of Atlanta (1000 ft), Boone (3300 ft), and Mount Le Conte (6500 ft). Imagine if in the South there were more areas like Boone or Le Conte than like Atlanta; Highland County, Virginia offers the best model for what this alternate South would be like.
Even Atlanta itself has a noticeably better climate than nearby Augusta, which is just 900 feet lower. In my alternate South the biggest mountains would be much larger and higher than 6500 feet; imagine the climates that would be possible at 10000 feet. My personal preference would be for 15000-20000 feet or more, so to have the kind of terrain seen in Denali, the Tian Shan, and the Himalayas, i.e. preferably really steep, rugged, and high. Such terrain is just different from the Rockies or Appalachians.
It really amazes me how Americans can complain about brutal relentless winters when it's no trouble at all for half of their country to push 90F in the middle of spring. It seems to me that the U.S. in general is much closer to having brutal relentless summers than brutal relentless winters - the vast majority of it is hot oftentimes for half the year. That's like half of America easily approaching 10F in mid October*, which as we all know pretty much never happens even at night, much less in the daytime. Interestingly, most of Alaska fits that description.
*Summery appears to start around 70F for highs, seeing as that's what the coolest places that have summery scenes (excluding the tropical pictures) average in summer; 90F is 20F warmer than that. Wintry scenes obviously start around 30F, and 20F cooler than that is 10F.
I would LOVE for the SE to be like you've just described. If Atlanta was the same elevation as Denver, or better yet, Mexico City, this place would be absolute paradise. I'd never want to leave...lol. Even being at 1000 feet does help - whenever I make the trip to the beach, due east of here, the increase in heat is certainly noticeable.
I'm also with you about summers being hotter than winters are colder - and down here, the summers are certainly a whole lot longer than winter.
11AM temps across the metro area. Both Chi airports at 18C, so is my suburb. Western suburbs have reached 21C. Lakeshore much cooler. Downtown Chicago only 12C.
Now, that's a job I'd not mind having - icebreaker captain.
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If Atlanta was the same elevation as Denver, or better yet, Mexico City, this place would be absolute paradise. I'd never want to leave...lol. Even being at 1000 feet does help - whenever I make the trip to the beach, due east of here, the increase in heat is certainly noticeable. 
Windows open and it feels comparatively pleasant.
