Missouri is hot and humid in the summer and cold and wet in the winter. Our weather extremes are infamous, sometimes from one hour to the next. It is a standing joke here that "If you don't like the weather now.....wait about 15 min. and it will change."
This is a wonderful place to be for gardening though! Southern MO area is beautiful in it's own way. I think you'll love it here. Welcome!

Do you have a lot of wind ?

Depends on what you mean by "alot of wind". In the Spring and late summer, our thunderstorms are vicious as we live in "Tornado Alley", but I wouldn't say that we have alot of wind....
I guess it depends on how your property lies, in what kind of landscape etc.
I am about 2 hours north of Texas county so I am not that familiar with that particular microclimate....(I guess that is the word to use)

Just wondering where I am in NC.is large mtns.Never even heard of a tornado even close to here.We have had gusts around 30 mph but only for a short time.The property I purchased in MO. is on the west side of a small ridge.

Welcome RWC! I've lived here all my life and haven't seen a tornado yet but I like having my basement and have been down there several times during storms. We get "tornado watches" when conditions are right for those things and "tornado warnings" when they've actually spotted a tornado or have something suspicious on radar. They will issue watches or warnings by county so I just listen to the radio if it's stormy. I have respect but not fear.

Hi! I live in the County just north of Texas. Beautiful country! Fairly rugged wooded hills, oak and hickory, cleared hollows and vallys, and clean rivers and streams. Southern Missouri weather is more like northern Arkansas,Than north Missouri, whitch is more like Iowa. Not so cold down here, less snow, maybe a little more freezing rain. Welcome to the beautiful Ozarks! Russ.

Sounds like I picked a good place to build my retirement home.I have noticed there is no county building inspector listed fo Texas Co. How difficult is it to build there?Can a property owner build his own home without many permits?

Some Counties in Southern Missouri are just now going to "Planning and zoning" with permits, etc. The larger the population, the more likely it will be in place. Even if it is in place, it won't be as restrictive as "back East". I do know that Greene County (Springfield) is much more restrictive than others. Water wells come under State restrictions and licensed drillers are required.

As for wind...not bad if you came here from Oklahoma, but we have seen gusts to 60-70 mph with incoming storms. You will catch more on a West slope than and East slope, unless there is a higher hill blocking the wind. As was said above, just keep an ear to the weather news or purchase a weather alert radio. No need to live in fear.

Welcome to the Ozarks...I think you will enjoy it.

Sounds great.Where I come from in NC.was much like Cabool and Texas Co.seem.There were only about 2500 people in my home town for years and if you wanted to build something you just did it.Unfortunatly the area has grown so much.It seems every ridge or mountainside is dotted with houses and you can't do anything without a handfull of permits and a dozen inspections.

Texas County may be a ways off from all that, if they haven't done it yet. I did a quick search and saw that the entire population is only 23,003 as of last Census. I am inclined to believe that it is still mostly populated by "natives", so would think it will take a bit longer to convince them to vote for change. ;O) I grew up in Missouri, too. That is good or bad depending on which side of the change issue you happen to be on. LOL

well, i dont thimk i live far from you, and i've seen 6 or 7 tornadoes here--including one this winter that took down trees in the timber not far from our house. years back, we stood on the back deck one night, and watched between lightening flashes, a huge one that destroyed several homes about 5 miles from us. we have the new madrid fault line not far from here, so we could get some damage from earthquakes too, floods, i dont think, can reach us--but would we give up living in the ozarks? no way. i'm pretty sure texas county dont have any restrictions on what you build, i know howell county dont--but there is a lot to be said for zoning-- would keep a lot of places from being built--and i even " hear" some places have laws about keeping your animals on your own place--lol

Probably a good idea about keeping ones animals on their own land,depending.I know no one wants where they make their home to fill up with new homes and construction.This is why I purchased property in the ozarks.It's begining to look more like L.A. or N.Y. where I live now.So many people.
I had a friend who purchased property in Ga. and was able to have a sawmill roughcut lumber and build a home with it.This was kind of what I wanted to do because I could use a lot beefier lumber at a cheaper price and still have a rustic look.

People used to do that kind of house building. Have you ever worked with green oak lumber? It can be a challenge. If you work with it green it will shrink later.... if you let it dry out, you can't drive a nail through it. Most people would build outbuildings and barns from fresh rough cut oak lumber. It would shrink leaving at least a half inch (maybe more)crack. We helped a neighbor side a barn several years back. He had all the seasoned boards cut and predrilled every nail hole as the rest of us nailed them on. We still used batten boards to make sure it stayed good and tight.

You can still take your own logs to a sawmill and have them cut, but keep a sharp watch. Some of the small mills don't keep their saws blades sharp, so they won't cut true from one end to the other. Same warning goes for buying it staight out...watch the cuts.

Here people use Poplar,Locust,and oak but I don't know how abundant a species would be there.Of the three the poplar is the easiest to work with.My friend had the beams sawn and dried then knotched them with a chain saw to fit them.Everything else was built with planks It was a lot of work but after compleation It's a beautiful house.Here people have about cut all the Locust trees out over the years to use for fence posts.

Just wanted to thank everyone for all the information.If everyone in MO. is as friendly and helpfull as you folks have been I'm sure I'll love it when I finally get there.

Welcome rwc to the Ozarks region. You are a neighbor fairly close "as the crow flies". I have sent you an e-mail concerning the only permit I am aware of, and that is regarding putting in a septic system.
Enjoy life in the Ozarks, it's a great area. Will be greater when my back yard dries up some and no longer looks like a swamp.lol. Haven't had it this wet in ages, but we do need the rain every now and then.
Donna

Very few poplar here, unless imported. We had a lot of honey locust (some black locust nearby) on this place, but I believe it was because it had been cleared in the past. The forest lands are mostly oak, ash, elm, hickory, &*%#$ cedar, a few maple, and if it hasn't been logged off, some black walnut. Mostly it is red oak over here, but we had white oak where I grew up two counties to the west. Lets hope you find something other than black jack oak.

Septic tank regulations come from the State, so does not mean that there is a need for building permits, etc. You do have to get a permit and use a licensed installer. They do inspect to see that it is done right, with Perk tests, etc. Much more expensive than it used to be, but I understand the concern for the ground water quality. And, you are less likely to have problems than in the old days when we had a lot of people who would do a really shoddy job, especially if the owner wasn't watching or didn't know what to watch for.

The more I look at the land and the regulations the more I like. Just don,t know why I didn't buy property there before.