Which states have mild winters and no tornadoes?

[floyd]

Originally Posted by Raspy

Hawaii. Perfect weather all year and no tornados.

A perfect example of the real issue when choosing a place to live.
God makes paradise, men make hell. Carefully check who runs the state before moving there.

[floyd]

Originally Posted by Jon in AZ

Skip the saltines and the cocktail sauce, just a spritz of lemon. It's like eating the whole ocean in one bite- clean and bracing! Hard to get good ones in Arizona. When relatives were in state for a graduation, we took them to the Sunday brunch at the Buttes in Tempe. The oysters were huge and really, really fresh- best I've had since leaving the Chesapeake Bay 30 years ago.

Then it would be like when you have a really bad cold and you accidentally swallow the contents of your sinuses... while sipping lemonade. Yum!

Still, regional foods are delicious for those who are raised on them.

[TomK]

Originally Posted by Jon in AZ

Skip the saltines and the cocktail sauce, just a spritz of lemon. It's like eating the whole ocean in one bite- clean and bracing! Hard to get good ones in Arizona. When relatives were in state for a graduation, we took them to the Sunday brunch at the Buttes in Tempe. The oysters were huge and really, really fresh- best I've had since leaving the Chesapeake Bay 30 years ago.

You're right about the Chesapeake Bay, Jon. My wife is from Tangier Island, VA. Her family and just about everyone on the Island make their living as watermen. Blue crabs and Oysters are better than you'll find anywhere.

It's an acquired taste Floyd

Tom

[steve dunham]

To be fair to Floyd , they don't have much for native seafood in Illinois unless you count Asian Carp.

[rbryan]

Originally Posted by steve dunham

To be fair to Floyd , they don't have much for native seafood in Illinois unless you count Asian Carp.

Funny you mentioned that. Met a fellow in Illinois who was trying to convince people to eat Asian Carp. His rationale was that it was popular in China. I guess a fish is a fish, but I've never tried it. Growing up Trout fishing in the Rockies, I was told that a Carp was a "trash fish" and to throw it away.

[steve dunham]

Originally Posted by rbryan

Funny you mentioned that. Met a fellow in Illinois who was trying to convince people to eat Asian Carp. His rationale was that it was popular in China. I guess a fish is a fish, but I've never tried it. Growing up Trout fishing in the Rockies, I was told that a Carp was a "trash fish" and to throw it away.

I grew up in St Paul Mn , about 2 blocks from the Mississippi River and about 6 blocks South of the Ford Auto Co Dam. In the spring when the river was high they would open the dam's flood gates .
When the water receded down stream of the dam there were hundreds of small pond left behind .
Those ponds were full of trapped carp .
We would get out our pitchforks and gunny sacks , take off our shoes & socks , roll up our pant legs
and go carp fishing. We would haul sack after sack of carp home and bury them in the garden for fertilizer. Worked really good on corn & tomatoes
This was back in the 1950's when the Mississippi was nothing more than an open sewer .
No one ate the fish coming out of the river
Today there are Walleyes in the upper Mississippi and you can't smell the river from 6 blocks away.
Stick with your trout , probably is safer and tastes a lot better .

[Kenton]

Originally Posted by rbryan

Funny you mentioned that. Met a fellow in Illinois who was trying to convince people to eat Asian Carp. His rationale was that it was popular in China. I guess a fish is a fish, but I've never tried it. Growing up Trout fishing in the Rockies, I was told that a Carp was a "trash fish" and to throw it away.

They are trying to get people down here to eat lionfish. Actually they do not taste bad but you have to be very careful of the barbs as they are poisonous. They can kill young children older people and everybody else can be in severe pain for days if stung.
We have them thanks to idiots who release their aquarium fish into the wild. They eat anything smaller than them and are having a serious impact on the local marine wildlife.

[C&G in FL]

Originally Posted by TomK

Earthquakes, rain, fires, smoke, volcanoes, recycle police. There's a glaring omission here. From what I hear; you can't walk through the woods in the PNW without looking over your shoulder for Bigfoot. I'm not talking the fiberglass variety either!

Tom

Originally Posted by steve dunham

Wisconsin does not have a Bigfoot but we do have wood nymphs
Though not dangerous they can scare the heck out of you on a dark night. The only really dangerous species we have here is Cheeseheads but they usually stumble over their own 2 feet and hurt themselves so there easy to evade / avoid .

I saw Bigfoot in the PNW and in Wisconsin. Maybe he was only passing through. Then again, I also saw Elvis in Winslow, Arizona. And no, he wasn’t standing on a corner. He was buying coffee in a 7-11!

[Mike Magee]

I thought I'd heard that Bigfoots lived in the Canadian woods. Now they've come south? Darn those illegal border crossers!

Asian carp in IllAnnoy, huh? Is that why Floyd frequently carps about the state?

I suppose if the infrastructure ever collapses, we will be very glad to have Bigfoots, asian carp, lionfish, etc. We'll be glad for any food source we can find!

[Kenton]

Originally Posted by Mike Magee

I thought I'd heard that Bigfoots lived in the Canadian woods. Now they've come south? Darn those illegal border crossers!

Asian carp in IllAnnoy, huh? Is that why Floyd frequently carps about the state?

I suppose if the infrastructure ever collapses, we will be very glad to have Bigfoots, asian carp, lionfish, etc. We'll be glad for any food source we can find!

maybe one of our skunk apes took a vacation and went north for a change.

[floyd]

Originally Posted by steve dunham

To be fair to Floyd , they don't have much for native seafood in Illinois unless you count Asian Carp.

The government has had contracts with a company with HUGE john boat looking things with twin outboards. They are hired to catch Asian Carp. They fill full sized dumpsters with these fish and haul them off supposedly for fertilizer.
One day here in Morris, which is on the Illinois River,they had the rear door come open on a 90YD dumpster while going up the I-80 overpass, which spilled the contents and closed the highway for some time to clean up the mess.

For those not familiar....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPeg1tbBt0A

[rbryan]

You know, it sure would be nice if people stopped "introducing" non-native species in order to fix or help with another problem. It often ends in disaster - far worse than the original problem. Many of these invasive species disasters were accidentally introduced, like the carp, but just as many were intentional. Hey, maybe they're non-native because they don't belong there?

[steve dunham]

Originally Posted by rbryan

You know, it sure would be nice if people stopped "introducing" non-native species in order to fix or help with another problem. It often ends in disaster - far worse than the original problem. Many of these invasive species disasters were accidentally introduced, like the carp, but just as many were intentional. Hey, maybe they're non-native because they don't belong there?

We here in the upper Midwest have been doing our part to stop evasive species from entering the US from our Northern neighbor.
So far except for a few isolated instances , we have been able to keep "Poutine" in Canada and out of the US .
Increased security at our northern border and vigilant US citizens are the key to stopping the spread of this menace and stopping our kids from becoming addicted.

[rbryan]

Ah yes, the poutine menace.

[floyd]

Originally Posted by rbryan

Ah yes, the poutine menace.

It can be a problem when you consider the variety of disguises used to get past the border control...

[Kai in Seattle]

Originally Posted by Alex Adams
Seattle is in the Lahar flow path of Mt Rainier and Portland is in the Lahar flow path of Mt Hood. Both mountains are considered high risk for an eruption since they are overdue. From the USGS:

Volcanic threat is the combination of hazards (the dangerous or destructive natural phenomena produced by a volcano) and exposure (the people and property at risk from the volcanic phenomena). Based upon eruption history and distance to population centers, a national volcanic threat assessment (NVEWS) designated nine volcanoes in Washington and Oregon with a "high" or "very high" rating. Very High Threat: Crater Lake, Glacier Peak, Mount Baker, Mount Hood, Mount Rainier, Mount St. Helens, Mount Adams, Newberry, Three Sisters. HIGH: Mount Adams.

I lived in Oregon for over 10 years and love the Pacific Northwest despite being on the "Ring of Fire".


Posted by SlowPat:
Yes. And don't forget the Chilean strength earthquake that could happen at any time along with the tsunami. We had an earthquake that woke me up last week! We also have floods when the Pineapple Express hits in the winter, mudslides, and snow avalanches. Then there is the Fire Of The Year when we are smoked out. We had smoke from Canada, Oregon, and our own state for much of last summer. Warshington is just a big disaster waiting to happen.





Alright, guys. Just want to point out the OP was asking about TORNADOES, not earthquakes, forest fires, tsunamis, or volcanic eruptions.

If you insist on going THERE, then I concede, don't come to the Pacific Northwest. Also, "mild" as a term for our winters depends on whether you find endless gray skies depressing or not. And as for temperate summers, it depends on whether living in a drought-ridden area for a few months with brown grass or thousand dollar water bills is a problem for you or not.

And then there's the Seattle metropolitan taxation...and crowding, and roads busier every year, and a housing market that in some ways has gone crazy expensive (a 1000 square foot house, built in the late 60's, just sold in our neighborhood for $450,000! Granted, the owner was an electrician and had wired it for "everything" but still! He put a second toilet in the coat closet, and the whole new "bathroom" was as small as in one of our rigs! But it sold in less than a week. Holy Moly!

So there's that.

How does this tie in to introducing "foreign" creatures into an ecosystem? Ah, it does, folks, it does! Population density is increasing hugely!

BEST
Kai

[rbryan]

Originally Posted by Kai in Seattle

[I]...and a housing market that in some ways has gone crazy expensive (a 1000 square foot house, built in the late 60's, just sold in our neighborhood for $450,000! Granted, the owner was an electrician and had wired it for "everything" but still! He put a second toilet in the coat closet, and the whole new "bathroom" was as small as in one of our rigs! But it sold in less than a week. Holy Moly!

So there's that.

I suppose that's a testament to the popularity of the area. Either that, or an inflated market due to a large amount of foreign and tech investment, such as in SF.

Here's some perspective for you. We are currently building a 2750 SF single story stone and stucco home on 3 acres overlooking the Guadalupe River feeding into Canyon Lake, about 35 miles north of San Antonio. It'll have a separate RV garage and pool as well. It's kind of our dream home, since we don't plan to ever build another one. It's a completely custom build, by a small builder who is an old acquaintance and friend. As homes go, it'll be the 'fanciest' home we've ever had by far, with all sorts of amenities such as 10-12 foot ceilings, hand scraped hardwood floors, exposed beams, granite, etc. In fact, it's probably too much for us, but we are at that stage in our lives so what the heck.

Price? About 450K.

[Glenn Baglo]

Compare with my 800 square foot shack, built in 1940. Two beds, one bath. Building assessed at $4,900.
50' X 160' lot assessed at $1,368,000.

[rbryan]

Originally Posted by Glenn Baglo

Compare with my 800 square foot shack, built in 1940. Two beds, one bath. Building assessed at $4,900.
50' X 160' lot assessed at $1,368,000.

Sitting on a tiny lot worth almost 1.5 mil is a nice problem to have Glenn. Well, except for the taxes.

[Glenn Baglo]

Property taxes in BC are very low ( I am told ). As I am a senior, I have to pay the utility portion, but I can defer the tax portion until I sell the house. Interest rate on deferred tax is one per cent.
And, since all my neighbours assessments are same or more, my taxes are no higher. The mil rate is the same for all.