<p>The majority of the clothes I'm packing are shorts and tshirts but I'm going to bring down a hoody or two also. Should I also bring down a winter coat? Do I need to bring long sleeve shirts?</p>
<p>Depends on what you think of as cold. This website says that the avg low in Houston in January is 41 degrees, but it can get a lot colder than that.</p>
<p>[Houston</a>, TX Climate](<a href=“Houston, TX Climate”>Houston, TX Climate)</p>
<p>It won’t get colder until December, so you can wait to bring some heavier clothes. But yes – you’ll want some long pants, long sleeve shirts and fleece-weight jackets for the winter. The weather can be very changeable in the winter. There can be some cold spells (colder than mid-40’s), but they usually don’t last longer than a few days.</p>
<p>It even snowed last winter (just one day, I think). That came as a big surprise to my daughter, who was at Rice Village with her bike at the time. I’m assuming snow in Houston is a rare event.</p>
<p>I’m a southern gal, and I definitely need a few long sleeves and jackets and other layer-able materials to keep warm. Though I definitely have friends who spend 2 days wearing pants the whole year. Just depends on what you think of the weather.</p>
<p>The snow was a one-time deal. I’m from Texas, had never seen snow in my life, and insist to this day that it was a massive prank played on us by the northerners…
I start whining when it gets in the 50s, but nonetheless have survived the past 19 years without a legit winter jacket.</p>
<p>I live ten minutes from campus, and it has snowed three times in my life.
I’m seventeen. ;)</p>
<p>In all seriousness, not very cold. There is panic in the streets when it gets below freezing.</p>
<p>DD does not take her heavy northern winter coat with her. She takes the wool peacoat type for the few days that are a little colder. Mostly sweatshirts. She spent the summer in VT this year and said it felt like winter in Houston since it was 50’s and rainy.</p>
<p>In Summary:</p>
<p>It DOES get below 40 degrees for a few days to a week, every once in awhile throughout the winter season
(December-February).</p>
<p>What you like to wear when it’s 34 degrees outside is your call.</p>
<p>Cold? Considering we sometimes go entire winter months without cracking 32, this thread has me cracking up. :)</p>
<p>Serious question: Do the leaves turn on the Rice campus in the fall? Our winters may seem brutal to some of you (and they occasionally seem that way to us) but for folks from my part of the world our romantic/nostalgic image of college always has crisp blue skies and autumn leaves.</p>
<p>I always get a kick out of hearing northerners boast of their cold winters, as if they’re tougher than us southerners for it… I feel like they make pretty amazing insulated clothes these days and you can always put on more layers. Summers down here sometimes make you wish you could peel off your skin. 
But this isn’t a competition, just a reminder that there’s always a flip side! :)</p>
<p>((I do understand that there would be a different perspective on what’s considered “cold” - no argument there.))</p>
<p>As far as the leaves go… either we don’t see as dramatic a change in leaf color as you would up north, or I am very unobservant. Could be either, really. 
We have lots of evergreens in this area (pine trees mainly), but all those oaks on campus make me wonder how oblivious I am…</p>
<p>Oh I fully understand that everyplace has its peculiar climate. I’m in Phoenix at the moment and it’s it’s going to be close to 110 tomorrow. I think anyone who lives here must be certifiably nuts – but I realize they must feel the same way about those of us in the upper midwest who think 9 degrees and sunshine in January is just a nice “brisk” day. :)</p>
<p>But I’m still curious about the leaves.</p>
<p>phade, the thing about Houston is the humidity, which can make it seem colder than it really is. But Houston can be freezing one day and in the 70s the next!!</p>
<p>Congrats on Rice. You’re going to love it.</p>
<p>The leaves don’t turn. Not really, anyway.</p>
<p>As to the leaves… it really depends on the weather in a particular year. If the temps dip down low enough for a few days in the fall there will be many trees that turn colors (plum trees, etc.). There are, however, a lot of trees in Houston that are more evergreen-type like the live oaks surrounding campus that don’t turn colors. The upside of that is that if you visit Houston in February you will be surprised at how green it is compared to what you’re used to. Typically, though, in the early spring the new buds seem to push the old leaves off.</p>
<p>But you can take a nice 150 mile drive out to the Texas Hill Country if you want to see the leaves turn…it gets GORGEOUS in late fall :)</p>
<p>Houston remains considerably warm for most of the year, however, around december and untill february, the temperatures drop. Thier were many days last year where the temperature droped below freezing, so do not expect 70+ degree weather all year.</p>
<p>I would have to agree with highlandmom; humidity makes the weather seem much colder than it actually is. I spent some time in Arkansas during the winter when the weather was 7 below zero, but very dry, and that felt warm compared to 30 degrees in Texas. The humidity adds a different level of cold to the winters. With that being said, one or two good jackets will suffice for the two to three weeks of total “cold” days here.</p>
<p>FYI, it was 80 today, although the cold front is moving in quickly. Basically, Rice has the greatest fall/winter weather you could ask for compared to any comparable school.</p>
<p>a full sleeve thin sweater should make sense. After all, it is houston…
Keep it low key b/c it’s not NY or Mass. Imagine a windy and nice fall weather at houston. This image could help you decide what to bring and what not to bring.</p>