the Golden years rule: Top 10 Best Places To Retire Also Tend to Have calm Weather

Each year, Fortune magazine publishes a list of the best places to retire, having examined information for 2,000 cities and towns based on 200 metrics. The top 10 cities are also places where there are rarely dangerous climate events.

The Fortune list focused on affordability and healthcare, which may be why CVS sponsored the research. Other major sources included the Centers for Disease Control, the National Center for Health Statistics and the Department of Agriculture. The magazine specifically warned that people who want to locate should check weather statistics but did not provide their own reporting on this aspect. The study’s authors wrote, “We recommend thorough research to ensure an informed choice that takes into account the potential risks associated with severe weather conditions.” People who live in Tampa should take note.

Here are the the top 10 cities:

American Canyon, Calif.

Newport, R.I.

Santa Clara, Calif.

Beaufort, S.C.

Portsmouth, N.H.

Shoreline, Wash.

Maple Valley, Wash.

Scarborough, Maine

Portland, Maine

Lafayette, Col.

Maine and New Hampshire may be cold in the winter, but neither has had a major dangerous weather event in memory. Meanwhile, Maple Valley is a distant suburb of Seattle and is well inland from the Pacific, as is Shoreline, which is north of Seattle.

Newport’s Rare Storms
Ritzy Newport, R.I., has been at the far northern end of hurricanes, but none have caused catastrophic damage since Hurricane Bob came ashore as a Category 3 hurricane in 1991. It was also brushed by Hurricane Sandy in 2012. Santa Clara is near San Jose, which has not had a weather event in recent memory, while American Canyon is north of San Francisco, where the risk is earthquakes and not weather.

Layette is near Denver. On paper, it could eventually be near wildfires, but none have burned near it recently. Beaufort, however, is on the Atlantic, which means it is at risk of being hit by a major hurricane.