
Year-long road trip where it's 70°F every day in North America - thebent
http://www.citylab.com/weather/2015/10/a-13235-mile-road-trip-for-70-degree-weather-every-day/411406/
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mmastrac
21ºC for us non-Americans. That would be a pleasant year's worth of weather
for me, given that the winter temperature in my Canadian city can reach -35ºC
in the deepest part of winter.

~~~
pacofvf
You can come to Mexico City, with a min. 14ºC Daily mean temperature in winter
and a max. 20ºC in summer. It's basically Spring all year long.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexico_City#Climate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexico_City#Climate)

~~~
cesarbs
Wow, I had no idea about that. TIL. I always thought all of Mexico was very
hot year round.

~~~
WildUtah
They say that Cortés returned to the Spanish Court to report to the King on
his conquest of México. King Carlos V asked him to describe the lay of this
new land adjoined to his kingdom. Cortés asked for a piece of paper (still an
expensive luxury at the time) and, instead of drawing on it, he shocked the
court by crumpling it into a wrinkly chaos. That is the topography of México.

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wallflower
It is almost a cliche but my friends who moved to LA truly do miss the
seasons, especially leaves changing colors. It is like living in a giant open-
air mall all year long. When nothing changes but the store displays, the
seasonal heartbeat is lost. Living in LA, of course, means they can go to the
beach all-year long with a short commute though. Snapchat is particularly
smart for having its corporate headquarters almost on the beach.

~~~
donretag
I live in LA (somewhat new, but I have been in CA for years), and I do not
miss seasons at all. It has been many years since I have seen snow, and I plan
to keep it that way. I cannot recall the last time I was in below freezing
weather.

I am an avid cyclist, and it is amazing to bike year round. My tan lines are
very prominent from the amount of cycling I do in sunny weather.

~~~
zippergz
+1. I absolutely do not miss seasons in Southern California. On the contrary,
I'm much happier when I (almost) constantly have great weather.

~~~
sehutson
Illinois transplant to CA, casting another vote for "I don't miss the seasons
at all." After 5 years in CA, I moved to PA for 1 and immediately regretted it
at the first sign of significant weather variation.

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cortesoft
Or they could just stay in San Diego all year round....

~~~
steadicat
I was gonna say... the trip to Alaska seems unnecessary. Average highs never
surpass 70°F in San Francisco: [http://www.usclimatedata.com/climate/san-
francisco/californi...](http://www.usclimatedata.com/climate/san-
francisco/california/united-states/usca0987)

~~~
emptybits
> the trip to Alaska seems unnecessary.

Staying in one easy 70°F place did not satisfy the project goal. From the
meteorologist behind it (emphasis mine): "Imagine that you really like days
where the high temperature is 70°F _AND YOU WANTED TO PLAN A ROAD TRIP_ where
the temperature always hovers around 70°F"

A 13,000 mile road trip is probably always _unnecessary_. Yet awesome! :-)

I think it's impressive he fit the Alaskan diversion into the problem
constraints. (Also, I love road trips to Alaska.)

~~~
rconti
Reminds me of a motorcycle trip I took from CA to Alaska in late June/early
July. Highest temp I saw the entire trip was 87f in Delta Junction, AK. Then
went back to CA and ran into snow.

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thedaemon
I am planning a road trip this year from my home in Alabama across and up to
Washington state in late August. I believe I timed it just right! Side note: I
cannot stand the heat and humidity here in Alabama this time of year. When
it's 98 degrees Fahrenheit and the humidity is so high that as soon as you
walk outside you are covered in water like you just jumped in a pool..... it's
unbearable. I love the outdoors but due to the climate around here I can't do
anything during the summer months.

~~~
hosh
I have lived in both Alabama and Washington state. Washington is nice :-D

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Animats
Here's an idea for an app: a program that does this for any desired
temperature range. Set it to 65-75F, and you probably don't have that big
detour to Alaska. This ought to be a function in travel planning programs.

~~~
creade
I made this a few years ago: [https://p-seventy-
two.herokuapp.com/](https://p-seventy-two.herokuapp.com/)

~~~
aab0
I feel a little embarrassed how long I spent clicking on the temperature curve
before finally noticing the little dragbar underneath which is how you change
the target temperature on that. The lack of geographical or movement
constraints make the results less interesting than OP, though.

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aab0
Nifty. You could probably turn this into a useful planning tool for RV camper
types if you turned it into a constraint-solver or integer programming problem
by using RV or camping locations and adding costs for relocation, to get a
cost-effective set of trips up the coasts and back down over the year.

~~~
timmaah
I've been doing this for the last few years but with my brain as the planning
tool.

It only hit mid 60's today on the Maine coast.

~~~
dghughes
Your neighbour from the Maritimes here it was 10C (50F) here yesterday it's
17C (63F) right now. I don't mind cool but I don't like it with rain.

I agree 21C (70F), dry, summer sun strength, no wind that's perfect.

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DanielStraight
Original article:

[http://us-climate.blogspot.com/2015/10/70f-road-trip.html](http://us-
climate.blogspot.com/2015/10/70f-road-trip.html)

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Jtsummers
[https://gis.ncdc.noaa.gov/geoportal/catalog/search/resource/...](https://gis.ncdc.noaa.gov/geoportal/catalog/search/resource/details.page?id=gov.noaa.ncdc:C00823)

The dataset used, for anyone curious.

~~~
g4k
I wonder if there is a similar world database.

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sulam
Or you could just live in the SF Bay Area, and do a mild east/west traverse
that doesn't range more than 50 miles. Problem solved.

~~~
thebent
But then you'd have to live in the SF Bay Area ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

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quotemstr
Am I the only one who _prefers_ rain, snow, cold weather, and darkness?

~~~
stock_toaster
I generally prefer the same -- I live in Portland after all...I had better
like the rain!

That said, I do like/need/require a bit of sunshine now and then. What I
certainly do not like, however, is lots of hot days.

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overcast
The biggest issue with this, is that the average temperatures don't change
that quickly, so you're treading pavement in most of these locations waiting
for the temps to change. It's a year long road trip in the most agonizingly
slow way possible. Neat premise though.

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tempestn
In the visualization video it looks like the 70 degree latitude is much more
uniform in approximately the eastern half of the country than the western
half. In the east it basically just marches northward in a line from winter to
summer, but in the west it's all over the place. (And not just on the coast.)
Does this have something to do with prevailing winds? Elevation?

~~~
thebent
It's all about the elevation. You can drive for hours on the east coast and be
in the same relative eco-system. Here in the west, you drive an hour and can
move through several. Start in a scorching red-rock desert and move in
elevation to an alpine meadow in a short drive. And the temps drop 3°F for
every 1k feet you gain in elevation.

~~~
steadicat
Elevation explains temperatures staying cool in the mid-west. The California
Current probably explains cool summer weather on the west coast:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Current](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Current)

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jmspring
I'm born and raised in the Bay Area (a native, of sorts). Between work and
family, I've travelled more than a little bit the last few years. I live on
the coast, we used to have some great storms in the late 90s, but nothing
impressive in over 10 years.

For me, I need the change of temperature (sure it's between about 8 and
21-25C, but a variation). The lack of light in winter affects me more.

I've been through one Finnish winter and had visits to Tallinn (-30C),
Stockholm (-12C) and Munich (0C) one work trip where 0c really felt like I
should be wearing shorts.

What I can't deal with is hot and humid. Arrived in Germany about two weeks
back, it was 33C and humid. Not enough showers would help not feeling "sweaty
and dirty".

I think some variation is useful. I also miss rain.

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kirpekar
This can be a nice calculation based on the contour lines. I'm sure there are
several local optimal solutions (Bay Area, San Diego) but I'd be interested in
working on an elegant "doable" solution (e.g. no more than 200 miles of travel
a week)

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thebent
Favorite part about this is June, July, August and September in Colorado.
Summertime in the Rockies! Any startups needing an excuse to get away, come
visit us :)

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anabis
The video of a line of red dots moving northward reminded me of Cherry blossum
front (桜前線) in Japan.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherry_blossom_front](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherry_blossom_front)

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murukesh_s
If you are in India, you could just stay the whole year in Bangalore.
[https://www.google.co.in/search?q=bangalore+temperature](https://www.google.co.in/search?q=bangalore+temperature)

~~~
brockwhittaker
As someone who lived in Bangalore, no. You missed April's average temperature
being 95F.

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11thEarlOfMar
So here's the thing.

It starts in Brownsville, Tx.[1]

In January 2016, There were 2 days in Brownsville where the high was 70, the
13th and 28th.

Even if you say +/\- 5 degrees is 'close enough' to 70, less than 1/2 the days
in January 2016 fall into that range.

From the 3rd to the 4th, the high temperature jumped 15 degrees from 51 to 66.

On the 2nd, the high was 45 degrees. The 15th, the high was 83 degrees. That's
a 38 degree high temperature spread in one month.

So if you really do need 70, spot-on to be happy, you may need to add standard
deviation to your criteria.

Here's the chart:

[1] [http://www.accuweather.com/en/us/brownsville-
tx/78520/januar...](http://www.accuweather.com/en/us/brownsville-
tx/78520/january-weather/331109?monyr=1/1/2016)

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TheMagicHorsey
Needs to be a loop so you can just keep driving the route till you die.

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ourmandave
I was looking to relocate a while ago and found a website that gives year
round weather for places. Apparently Hawaii is consistently 74 and sunny.

Their summary of pros/cons was you may become bored.

~~~
sosborn
The boredom has nothing to do with weather.

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kyu
I would kill myself July - October... in the middle of nowhere...

~~~
chrissnell
People from Idaho would tell you, "It sucks here! Don't come! You'll hate it."

The reality is that this track takes you through one of the most beautiful
parts of the US. Oregon and Idaho have an amazing array of climates and
landscapes. You could be wakeboarding along an almost tropical Snake River in
Hells Canyon in the morning and then hiking in the high alpine of the Wallowa
Range later that day.

Truly my favorite part of the country and I'm glad that it's not overrun with
tourists.

~~~
Karunamon
Hah! That sounds very similar to Wyoming. I've seen more than one shirt and
heard more than one person say "Yes, Wyoming sucks. Now go home and tell all
your friends!"

The weather isn't so great (spring and fall may as well not exist, it just
feels like you go from freezing winter to blazing summer), but the scenery is
truly hard to beat. Also, Yellowstone.

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tekism
Watching that youtube clip of the 70 degree temp moving up and down the US
really puts thing in perspective, one small tip of the earth's axis and we are
all f#$$ed

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Shivetya
damn this would make a great motorcycle route, but keep it towards the higher
side of 70 for the naked bikes. High temperatures and summer humidity can side
line me as much as below freezing temperatures. I can do below freezing but I
get leery of what I find on the road around the next corner. Summer heat can
be dangerous as many will ride without jackets which is unsafe and dehydrating

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hrayr
This is a nice visual depiction of why LA and most of the west coast is so
nice year round.

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sytelus
On Big Island, Hawaii you can probably find 70-degree weather somewhere
anytime of year.

~~~
sib
On the other hand, if you can't, the road trip gets really ugly, really
quickly...

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lngermani
Thanks to global warming you can soon drive anywhere you want in 90 degrees.

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coherentpony
I wonder how the route changes as a function of the desired temperature.

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justinzollars
Too much time in Texas and they miss September in San Francisco!

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codecamper
Driving this far the temperature might become 71.

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blacksmythe
Or stay in Santa Barbara pretty much year-round.

~~~
selimthegrim
If you can afford it.

~~~
Citrusfizz
Lived there for 10 years. I loved it. But it got way way to expensive even if
your making close to 100k. That and its not big. stuff can get boring there.

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dayaz36
Or you can just go to San Diego

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bmm6o
I'm not sure the writer understands the project. The route is constructed so
that the daily high temperature is 70, so most of the time is spent in sub-70
degree weather. If "69 degrees and below makes you shiver like a soaked
kitten", you're SOL.

~~~
cag_ii
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperbole](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperbole)

~~~
bmm6o
Way to miss the point. The prose makes it sound like the goal is to maximize
the time spent at exactly 70, or to minimize the variation away from 70,
neither of which is the case.

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izzydata
I just set my thermostat to 70.

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CodeSheikh
Too much free time and money on hands, eh? Good for you mate.

~~~
Jtsummers
NB: The meteoroligist plotted the trip, he has not (and likely will not) made
it.

