<p>The more D reads and hears about Bama, the more she thinks it would be a good fit for her. I figure all it will take is a visit and she’ll know whether that great fit is there - I suspect it will be. Her biggest reservation at this point is the weather. We’re in the Chicago area, where we’re said to have 4 seasons: Almost Winter, Winter, Still Winter and Road Construction. You’d think Alabama’s weather would be a plus. But D doesn’t like heat. I’ve told her that school isn’t in session for half of May, June, July and half of August, which are the really hot months. Just from looking at historical temps, I can see that it’s still good and hot in September, and it’s still pretty darn warm in the first part of May and most of October. But I’m not sure that historical temps and averages tell the whole story. FWIW, her favorite time here is probably September/October, when we usually have highs in the 60’s and low 70’s. That seems to me to be what Alabama highs are in MANY months of the year, so you suffer the heat for a couple months to get a milder winter - it all seems good. But that’s me - I LIKE heat and hate cold.</p>
<p>Anyway, can anyone who is used to midwest weather give me a comparison? Anyone not a hot weather fan who can tell me how oppressive Alabama temps are in the warm months? Are these kids outside enough in the really hot months that it makes a difference?</p>
<p>I think it rains a lot in Tuscaloosa. My son’s roommate, who is very athletic, is constantly singing, Rain, rain, go away. My son usually starts the day out with a jacket, but winds up shedding it midday. We are from New Orleans, where it is oppressively hot, and he was looking forward to a little bit cooler weather, but not as cold as the midwest, where he initially was intending to study. But he actually wears jeans now, whereas he rarely wore long pants, even in January, back home. </p>
<p>One thing my husband did last year on his phone was program the weather to show up in son’s prospective schools every day. When son would complain about the cold in New Orleans in January and February, my husband would look up Milwaukee and St. Louis and note to son how it was so many degrees colder there that day than it was back home.</p>
<p>Beth’s mom: August & September can still be REALLY hot. Like above 90’s hot. And it’s humid. But…unlike in the north, everything has central A/C. And if you don’t like the cold then October-April are wonderful. While it can drop into the teens & 20’s, that doesn’t last very long. We are originally from NJ, but currently live in TN. Tuscaloosa tends to run about 5-10 degrees warmer than Nashville during the fall & winter. </p>
<p>Similar to what Montegut mentioned, I have Tuscaloosa, Nashville & our old town in NJ programmed into weather.com so I can see the difference on a daily basis. I love comparing to NJ in the winter. </p>
<p>AL34 is from Chicago, so maybe she can chime in and give you the hometown perspective.</p>
<p>Road Construction: They have that same season in Pennsylvania and any place where the roads freeze. RobD probably agrees with me, since she’s from NJ originally.</p>
<p>As for the Alabama weather, my son would tell your daughter that you do get used to hot and humid. For him, the adjustment period was a week or so (we live in rural Virginia). He really likes the warm weather – he wears shorts on 50-degree mornings (while his suite mates bundle up). His suite is kept at 70 degrees (not his idea, so he throws another blanket on the bed). The Alabama dorms/classrooms do have AC, so kids will not melt.</p>
<p>Oh, and if you are lucky, it does snow in Alabama. Not much, but it does snow a little. My son loves when that happens.</p>
<p>Alas, we do not have Road Construction in Hawaii. Just a multiplying family of potholes. Local government’s idea for improving the (automotive repair) economy.</p>
<p>I don’t think of September as being that humid. The beginning of Sept is hot. It seems that once Labor Day weekend is over, much of the humidity is going away and by mid-month, it’s gone.</p>
<p>I find that the fall months and the spring months are awesome…sunny blue skies and fluffy white clouds. Truly beautiful!</p>
<p>The winter months can be deceiving if you just look out a window and try to guess the temp… It can look very sunny outside, but still be very cold. </p>
<p>*I think it rains a lot in Tuscaloosa. *</p>
<p>I would not say that. That suggests lots of days where it rains all day and that’s not true. Tuscaloosa is not the northwest by any means. The south tends to get sudden hard rain that doesn’t last long. It can suddenly rain very hard, but then be over in 20 minutes. </p>
<p>A person can walk into a building and it’s fine outside, but then walk out and it’s raining…so, it’s good to keep a small umbrella in one’s backpack for these occasions. However, the rain can be over by the time you get to the next building.</p>
<p>Unless you’re going to school in San Diego, California, I think all campuses are going to have some bad weather days.</p>
<p>Agreed, mom, I don’t hear about it raining all day. Just the typical Southern rain showers, that can drench you in minutes, and then disappear magically.</p>
<p>We recently did the “clothes swap” at Fall Break, and son kept his shorts for his dorm room, and all of his short sleeves shirts, as he feels comfortable in jeans and tshirt, with a light or heavy jacket, depending on the day. But hooded jackets are a must, for those sudden showers.</p>
<p>I do suggest a waterproof bag or backpack for those sudden rain showers. </p>
<p>Coming from NY, I would trade places with my son in a heartbeat…let me see humidity/heat versus freezing cold/36 inch blizzards. I’d take Alabama, but seriously everything including dorms are fully air-conditioned. I was there in late August and I was comfortable, it WAS hotter and more humid in NY at the same timeframe.</p>
<p>I agree with the suggestion about waterproof backpacks!!.. That’s a good tip for virtually all students everywhere!!</p>
<p>And, I also agree that the overall weather is very good at Bama during the school year. Yes, some hot days for a few weeks and some cold days in the winter (but not cold like the midwest), but overall a moderate climate school.</p>
<p>In Washington, the seasons are rain, more rain, even more rain, and road construction.</p>
<p>I find the weather in Tuscaloosa to be quite moderate. The summers are humid, but I get used to it after a couple of hours. It can be cold during the winter (it was 12 degrees when I visited UA in January for Capstone Scholars Day two years ago,) but it rarely snows and when it does snow, it is less than an inch. For some reason, most all of UA’s storm drains are built into curbs, so the ground gets very wet from all the rain that has nowhere to go. I’m still not used to having to use an umbrella, which is definitely something that every student needs to have.</p>
<p>It is very possible to attend UA and wear summer clothes throughout the year, provided that one doesn’t mind wearing a warm coat along with shorts and flip flops.</p>
<p>The heat is the one thing I absolutely hate about UA. I’m from North Carolina, and didn’t think it would be much hotter here, but I sure was wrong. It has been what I consider hot probably 95% of days since I got here in August! It should not be 80 degrees in November! I can honestly say that at no point in the last 3 months have I gotten used to the heat.</p>
<p>Despite all of this, I love Bama, and the weather is one of the few things I can complain about.</p>
<p>I’d take 80 in November over 30 any day. This year has been hotter than usual all across the country. </p>
<p>In most years Tuscaloosa will be pretty hot & humid in August and then it will break around the 2nd week of September. From then until December the temps are very moderate and just about perfect IMHO. January is pretty cold but February sees the temps start to rise again and the weather up through mid June is perfect again. </p>
<p>Historically, as a student you’ll sweat your posterior off for the first month and then enjoy 3 months of great weather. Go home for the holidays and return to a relatively cold month followed by 3 more months of great weather.</p>
<p>*It should not be 80 degrees in November! *</p>
<p>It sure isn’t 80 degrees today (or yesterday). We were in jackets yesterday and had a blanket over our pants and knit hats on our head during last night’s game.</p>
<p>But, yes, this month has been warm in Alabama…not hot, but warm.</p>
Truly beautiful!</p>