There's a joke about how quickly Austin's weather can change. It's not unheard of to see 30 degree swings over the course of a few hours. Austin has no protecti

There's a joke about how quickly Austin's weather can change. It's not unheard of to see 30 degree swings over the course of a few hours. Austin has no protection from polar winds coming down from the north, nor is it near water, which has a moderating effect on climate. So it does have erratic weather. It's possible to see an inch of snow every other year, and yet, in the summers, it's likely to see 100+ degree (F) weather for two months straight. It's more likely how Austin is still attractive to high-tech personnel - a good public university nearby, a reputation for being a lively city, somewhat reasonable real estate prices (relative to the Bay, but still 2X what they were 10 years ago), and excellent schools if you're in the right area, a decent number of tech options to jump to if you want to switch, a spritely startup scene, enough outdoorsy things to do, etc etc.