The city of San Antonio is located inthe south-central portion of Texas onthe Balcones escarpment. Northwest ofthe city, the terrain slopes upward to the Edwards Plateau; to the southeast, it slopes downward to the Gulf Coastal Plains. Soilsare blackland clay and silty loam on thePlains and thin limestone soils on the Edwards Plateau.

Temperatures range from 50 degrees in January to the mid-80s in July and August. While the summer is hot, with daily temperatures reaching above 90 degrees more than 80 percent of the time, extremely high temperatures are rare. Mild weather prevails during much of the winter months, with below-freezing temperatures occurring an average of 20 days each year.

Normal annual rainfall of nearly 28 inches is sufficient for the production of mostcrops. Precipitation is fairly well-distributed throughout the year, with the heaviest amounts occurring during May and September. Thunderstorms and heavy rains have occurred in all months of the year.Hail of damaging intensity seldom occurs,but light hail is frequent during springtime thunderstorms. Measurable snow occurs only once in three or four years. Snowfall of 2 to 4 inches occurs about every 10 years.

Since San Antonio is located only 140 miles from the Gulf of Mexico, tropical storms occasionally impact the city with strong winds and heavy rains. One of the fastest winds recorded, 74 mph, occurred as a tropical storm moved inland east of the city in August 1942.

Relative humidity is above 80 percentduring early morning hours most of theyear but drops to about 50 percent in thelate afternoons. For time and temperature information, call (210) 226-3232, sponsored by Frost Bank.