Sixty-six miles of barrier island, and humidity that never drops below 70%

Padre Island National Seashore protects sixty-six miles of wild coastline
along the Gulf, on a narrow barrier island that holds **one of the last intact
coastal prairie habitats in the United States**.

On the landward side lies the hypersaline Laguna Madre — a lagoon saltier
than the sea, where tidal mud flats teem with life. Hypersaline lagoons are
rare worldwide, and the wildlife of this one exists because of that chemistry
rather than despite it.

Native Americans, Spanish explorers and cattle ranchers have all walked
these shores.

Getting there

The seashore is on **North Padre Island, south-east of Corpus Christi,
Texas**.

1. Head east through Corpus Christi on Highway 358
2. Cross the JFK Causeway onto Padre Island, where Highway 358 becomes
   Park Road 22
3. Continue about 10 miles south on Park Road 22 to the park entrance

The weather, and the two numbers that matter

Long, hot summers and short, mild winters. Summers are very humid. Winter
can bring strong cold fronts and gale force winds. Most rain falls near the
beginning and end of hurricane season, 1 June to 30 November.

Two year-round figures do more to describe a day here than any of those:
average wind speed of 5–25 mph, and **relative humidity that seldom drops
below 70%**. A mid-90s summer afternoon at 70%+ humidity on an open beach is a
different proposition from the temperature alone.

Location: National Seashore, Texas. Source: U.S. National Park Service.