Thinking of moving to Texas and need some help

Kiya · Feb 13, 2007

My husband and I are a Navy family and currently stationed at NAS JRB Fort Worth. I'm from Michigan originally so I understand about the snow. As for the weather, it varies quite a bit. This year we've a few snow dustings and some ice but last year when I moved down it was near 80 degrees in February!! The summers are extremely hot, over 100 degrees most of the time. It's also somewhat close to OK. Good luck in your search!

RN34TX · Feb 14, 2007

I used to live in Dallas and even there it gets chilly in the winter at times with occasional drops below freezing but most certainly nothing close to Ohio or other northern type winter weather. There were still plenty of short sleeve winter days during my years in Dallas. Most of the time a light jacket at night would be all that was needed during winter.

If you hate the cold that much, my suggestion to you is to get out a Texas map and look for a place below I-10 and as close to the coastline as possible. Those are the warmest areas of Texas during winter with freezing weather and/or snow being an extreme rarity, if at all.

Your best bet (weather-wise) would be all the way down to the bottom of the coast in the Padre Island/McAllen/Brownsville area. The nursing job working conditions in that area, however, are reported by many to be very bad.

I personally love Corpus Christi and this would be another good area for you to investigate. Small/medium size city so it's got plenty to keep from getting bored, but not a big major metropolis and still has a slower pace.

Houston is going to be the big bustling metropolis with the best paying jobs and biggest variety of job opportunities. Houston isn't always going to be as warm as Corpus or Brownsville but ice storms and below freezing weather is much more rare than in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

And for gosh sakes, stay away from the panhandle (Amarillo) area.

If there is snow or ice to be had in the state of Texas anywhere, it's going to be there. They have the worst weather of all.

Just keep in mind that south and southeast Texas has very hot, humid, steambath type summers that actually extend into spring and fall. So it's a trade-off from northern winters as to which season you will suffer.

Dallas summers, although often higher digits (100-plus like another commented) were much drier and more tolerable in my opinion.

vamedic4, EMT-P · Feb 14, 2007

I used to live in Dallas and even there it gets chilly in the winter at times with occasional drops below freezing but most certainly nothing close to Ohio or other northern type winter weather. There were still plenty of short sleeve winter days during my years in Dallas. Most of the time a light jacket at night would be all that was needed during winter.
If you hate the cold that much, my suggestion to you is to get out a Texas map and look for a place below I-10 and as close to the coastline as possible. Those are the warmest areas of Texas during winter with freezing weather and/or snow being an extreme rarity, if at all.
Your best bet (weather-wise) would be all the way down to the bottom of the coast in the Padre Island/McAllen/Brownsville area. The nursing job working conditions in that area, however, are reported by many to be very bad.
I personally love Corpus Christi and this would be another good area for you to investigate. Small/medium size city so it's got plenty to keep from getting bored, but not a big major metropolis and still has a slower pace.
Houston is going to be the big bustling metropolis with the best paying jobs and biggest variety of job opportunities. Houston isn't always going to be as warm as Corpus or Brownsville but ice storms and below freezing weather is much more rare than in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.
And for gosh sakes, stay away from the panhandle (Amarillo) area.
If there is snow or ice to be had in the state of Texas anywhere, it's going to be there. They have the worst weather of all.
Just keep in mind that south and southeast Texas has very hot, humid, steambath type summers that actually extend into spring and fall. So it's a trade-off from northern winters as to which season you will suffer.
Dallas summers, although often higher digits (100-plus like another commented) were much drier and more tolerable in my opinion.

:yeahthat: :yeahthat: :yeahthat:

I live in Dallas and it's GREAT here. Very low humidity, mild winters (this is the coldest it's been in a long time)...some snow but it usually melts the next day, occasional ice...Really, it's very nice. I just miss the beach.

vamedic4

txspadequeenRN, BSN, RN · Feb 14, 2007

it is something like 34 degrees here now wind blowin 40 miles a hour. we don't get much snow but several times a year we do get ice..... the big deal with texas weather is the spring/fall storms and the damn summer heat....the heat can peel the elizabeth arden right off your face...my electric bill in the summer is anywhere from $475-575 a month. the spring and fall season is fairly nice nice and cool....but the summer ugggg

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Feb 14, 2007

I moved to Fort Worth from California a little over one year ago and am enjoying it so far. The summers are quite hot, but the humidity here is not as bad as the 90 percent humidity of the Texas Gulf Coast. The winters are quite cold, but not nearly as cold as the wintry weather up north.

Soup Turtle · Feb 17, 2007

Haha...I was thinking of moving to Pennsylvania because we only have one season here and that's SUMMER! I live in San Antonio, TX. The cost of living is very low, but it's also a "minimum wage" sort of city. Winters are nice. I haven't worn a winter coat in years, though. Sometimes you need a sweater, but that's about it. Every summer I want to DIE because it is so hot. I usually just stay in the house unless I have to be somewhere.

TashaLPN2006RN2012, ASN, RN · Feb 23, 2007

I'm from OHIO too...and it SUCKS...lol..Not sure what your hubby's MOS and Rank is but we are stationed at Ft. Hood texas, and there is lots of jobs in the surrounding cities. Killeen is itty bitty but a nice city, the closes ones are Austin (45min), Waco (1hr), Temple (30min)...they have LOTS of jobs open, not to mention positions on base through the contract companies like Columbia-Arora JV...There is also a base in San Antonio, and i've heard that it's great there too though we have never been! I'm not sure of the other bases, but those are two i know of!

discobunni · Feb 23, 2007

I live in Corpus and it was in the 80's today. There is a naval base here. We can have some chilly weather... it was in the 40's a few days last week.

It's very common to use the heater in the morning and A/C in the afternoon sometimes.:chuckle There are LOTS of RN jobs available. Look at christusspohn.com and driscollchildrens.org

New RN's start at $19-20/hr, staffing pool pays like $28

So I guess go figure from that based on your experience.

me33 · Mar 1, 2007

I live in McAllen, the Rio Grande Valley. It's always warm we had snow a few years ago. It last for about an hour. It was the first time it snowed in 100 years. The land here is cheap compared to up north. There is also a shortage of nurses. One hospital will pay a 50,000 sign on bonus for a four year contract. We also have a doctors hospital and I believe a new nurse starts at 29.00. I am from Chicago and my usband is from Akron Ohio. I would never move back. Life here is great. Laid back, family oriented and friendly.

**canoehead, BSN, RN** · Mar 1, 2007

Before you make plans to move to Texas check out the "group one" program that exists at the hospitals there. You can be blackballed for any reason and no hospital will hire you. Do a search on allnurses, there are many threads.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Mar 1, 2007

Before you make plans to move to Texas check out the "group one" program that exists at the hospitals there. You can be blackballed for any reason and no hospital will hire you. Do a search on allnurses, there are many threads.

GroupOne has a very strong presence in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, but the agency has not yet graced other parts of Texas with their omnipotent presence. The nurses in Austin, San Antonio, Houston, West Texas, the Panhandle, East Texas, and the Rio Grande Valley have the good fortune of not having to deal with GroupOne (yet).

Another consideration is malpractice insurance, as Texas is the most litigious state in America for healthcare personnel. In the other 49 states, a nurse malpractice insurance policy with $1 million worth of coverage can be purchased for about $100 per year. The same insurance companies charge Texas nurses around $200 to $250 per year for a $300,000 policy.