The answer lies in the Panhandle, particularly around and north of Amarillo. Residents of El Paso enjoy the most sunny days in all of Texas. On average, there is sunshine here on 84 percent of the days. That equates to 293 total days of sunshine during the year.
The annual Texas BestPlaces Comfort Index, 7.2 (10% 3Dbest), indicates that it is more comfortable than most states in the United States. It's not the sun itself that causes the problems. In fact, the heat from the sun is actually less intense in the city; urban areas receive 20 to 30 percent less direct solar radiation than rural areas. But this is, at best, a small consolation.
Cities get less sunlight, largely due to air pollution, which actually increases urban heat load through what scientists call the “greenhouse effect”. The best way to understand the greenhouse effect, if you don't yet understand how a greenhouse works, is to think of the pollution layer (and the atmosphere) as a shield and a blanket; although it can reflect the heat from outside as a shield, it also keeps it inside like a blanket. The greater the pollution, the thicker and more windproof the blanket will be and the hotter the city will be. Scientists have yet to determine exactly how much pollution contributes to the thermal load, but they are sure that it does increase urban temperature misery.
No city in Texas is a place for children with allergies or asthma, but because of its altitude, latitude, and air quality, Fort Worth has a different type of soil and is classified in a different ecological region of Texas called Grand Prairie. This area produces some of the least humid cities in Texas, as Texarkana's average humidity level is around 72%, making it the best place to live in Texas due to relative humidity to humidity. Lubbock, Texas, is about 2 hours south of Amarillo and also offers some of the coldest average temperatures in Texas. The University of Texas School of Public Health is conducting the first comprehensive study on heat islands in the city of Houston, Texas.
Pampa is also located in the Texas Panhandle and has the lowest average maximum temperature in Texas, of 70 degrees.