Southfork Ranch it ain’t!
The third largest city in the state of Texas, Dallas currently sports a population of 1.2 million. At a minimum altitude of 450 feet above sea level they’re pretty well safe from tsunamis, but if apocalyptic flood waters do come, there’s another 300 feet of elevation available in the city where they can all huddle. The Trinity River has been known to be problematic for folks around these parts!
They probably won’t be too worried however, since the frozen Margarita machine was invented in Dallas, which takes some really laid-back thinking. Some really forward-thinking took place in 1958 when they invented the integrated circuit (father to the microchip), which is probably why Dallas is home to Texas Instruments.
It’s also home to the 7-Eleven corporation, Cowboys Stadium (large enough to hold the Statue of Liberty with the roof closed), and the Dallas-Fort Worth Arlington Metroplex, a number one tourist destination, and home to 23 of the richest people in the United States.
The Climate
When asked to picture Texas, let’s be honest, most of us probably think of mesas, and deserts, and overwhelming heat. There! You were just imagining cacti and tumbleweeds! Don’t deny it!
While it’s true that dry winds from the north and west can bring temperatures up to 102° F (39° C) occasionally during the summer, it’s fairly rare, but sometimes southerly winds forced their way up into the area. This can result in Humidex readings of 117° F (47° C). If this happens in winter time it can result in freezing rain, causing great disruptions in the city, especially if the roads become icy.
Generally speaking, Dallas departs from that stifling hot image. It’s centrally located, landlocked, and not accessible by any major body of water which, as mentioned, can result in some extremes of weather. Its maximum temperature usually hovers just little over 90° F (32° C) and, in actuality, Dallas experiences about 14 days per year that go below the freezing point.
Looking around town
It may be a little macabre, but they have live video web-camera mounted in the School Book Depository where the assassin of President John F. Kennedy was perched on November 22, 1963, as he fired rounds into the presidential motorcade. If you click About This View the website will provide historical details about that infamous day.
For a more conventional view, there is a camera atop the Reunion Tower, which you can zoom in, and then scroll-about the view to locate particular details.
As always however, the best instant information always comes from traffic cameras, and Dallas has plenty. They cover the IH-20, 30, 345, 35E, 35W, 45, 635, Loop 12, the SH114, 161, 183, Spur 366 & 408, as well as US67, 75, and 80, each with numerous cameras. You could spend all day touring the roadways around Dallas by camera.
Being Informed
As always, weather.com provides daily reports, broken down into hourly if you need that; they also provide 5-day and 10-day predictions, notes about what to expect on the weekend, and live updates of growing systems that could pose a threat. They even have a graphical representation showing sunrise, the highest point in the sky that the Sun reaches and sunset over the course of the day as well as the current position of the Sun.
Naturally AccuWeather has a reasonably broad array of information including the video forecast, radar weather for the area, and long-range predictions of major Continental Systems that could impinge on the area. And if Forensic Weather is your thing, they have that too!
One last thing
There are plenty of things to do while you’re in Dallas. There are 16 parks, seven gardens, six nature & wildlife areas, four hiking trails, three biking trails, two aquariums, a zoo, and even an equestrian trail if you know how to ride a horse.
There are 32 museums, 36 theaters and concert venues, 26 tours & activities, movie theater experiences, bowling, pitting your wits against the clues and details built into an “escape-proof” room, adventure parks, and go-karting adventures.
And yes, you can really tour Southfork Ranch if you’re a Dallas-fan!