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I'm hoping to hear from people who have lived in/experienced summers in both the midwest and Charlotte. My guess is that the heat and humidity of the hottest month in the midwest (Aug) is very comparable to June-August in Charlotte. What do you think? When does summer start and end? Do you like it?
August is typically the hottest month in Charlotte, but the last 15 years, we have seen some odd weather patterns.
You didn't state exactly where you were from in the midwest. I lived in the Kansas City metro and the temps got higher in the summer overall, but the humidity was very different. When it reached 50% humidity and 95 F, folks would start complaining about how awful the heat and humidity were. Here in the South, we have mid to high 90s with 90% humidity and it is a very different type of miserable, lol.
There were many days when I lived in the midwest with temps over 100 F, but the humidity was so much lower - it felt like a hot oven when I opened the door to step outside. However, here in Charlotte, it can hit 95 F, with high humidity, and it feels like I am breathing under water - I step outside and immediately my clothes start feeling damp. So to me, that is even worse than the higher temps (with lower humidity).
Neither situation is comfortable, but the humidity can make it even more unpleasant, imo.
Air conditioning is your friend in either scenario! And I carry a spray bottle to spritz my face/neck when I have to be outside for any length of time.
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Originally Posted by taco14
Hi everyone!
I'm hoping to hear from people who have lived in/experienced summers in both the midwest and Charlotte. My guess is that the heat and humidity of the hottest month in the midwest (Aug) is very comparable to June-August in Charlotte. What do you think? When does summer start and end? Do you like it?
I'm a native of southwestern lower Michigan. I spent most of my life in South Jersey. I promise you that your guess is wrong. The humidity in the Midwest doesn't hold a candle to humidity in the MidAtlantic & Southern coastal states.
Summer in the Charlotte area is not as miserable as South Jersey, for the most part.
That said, summer in Michigan is much more temperate.
Last edited by southbound_295; 07-01-2014 at 09:15 AM..
August is typically the hottest month in Charlotte, but the last 15 years, we have seen some odd weather patterns.
You didn't state exactly where you were from in the midwest. I lived in the Kansas City metro and the temps got higher in the summer overall, but the humidity was very different. When it reached 50% humidity and 95 F, folks would start complaining about how awful the heat and humidity were. Here in the South, we have mid to high 90s with 90% humidity and it is a very different type of miserable, lol.
There were many days when I lived in the midwest with temps over 100 F, but the humidity was so much lower - it felt like a hot oven when I opened the door to step outside. However, here in Charlotte, it can hit 95 F, with high humidity, and it feels like I am breathing under water - I step outside and immediately my clothes start feeling damp. So to me, that is even worse than the higher temps (with lower humidity).
Neither situation is comfortable, but the humidity can make it even more unpleasant, imo.
Air conditioning is your friend in either scenario! And I carry a spray bottle to spritz my face/neck when I have to be outside for any length of time.
I am from Wisconsin and have also lived in Indiana. Just for perspective, WI had 20 days over 100 degrees two summers ago. So it does get blazing hot around here, but I do agree that the humidity is probably worse in NC. I LOVE the Charlotte climate! 3 month of really hot!, but the rest of the year is mild and beautiful. In WI, we get 6 months of cold weather, 2-3 months of scorching heat, and 3-4 months of great weather. If summer heat is worst part of the year in NC, sign me up!
Not to quibble over minutia, but JULY, not August is Charlotte's hottest month, as it is for most places in the East. Charlotte's highest average temperature is 89, which is the average from June 30 until August 5. By August 31, the average high has declined to 86. The average low peaks at 68, from July 2 until August 16. By August 31, the average low has declined to a mild 65. As such, meteorologists tend to think of mid to late July as the average hottest time of the year.
I lived in the Chicagoland area for about 17 years before moving here 5years ago. Chicago will have some days that are suffocatingly hot and humid, and the rest of the summer is a crap shoot. I have a few friends who wore jackets to a night baseball game a few weeks ago b/c it was in the low 50's!
I will take consistent heat of Charlotte b/c I know it is a true summer and b/c the rest of the year is mild compared to Chicago any day!
As a lifelong resident of the Great Lakes region who spent part of last year in Charlotte, I want to throw in my $.02: The temps in Charlotte for July aren't too bad, but the thing I noticed was the general lack of breezes. Compared to the areas in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Western New York that I'm accustomed to -- downwind of Lake Erie -- I found the heat & humidity a bit hard to take in NC. The infamous lake effect might make northern winters cold and snowy but in the summer they're your best friend.
What was also hard to take was the fact that my employer down there kept the a/c much too cold, which made going out in the heat that much harder to adjust to.
If you just go by the numbers, the summer in the midwest can actually be worse than Charlotte. Our dew point values typically hover in the mid to upper 60s for most of the summer. In the midwest, there are areas where the dew point can reach well into the 70s consistently. This leads to higher heat index values. We will get stretches where it gets that hot at times, but typically they don't last as long as it does in the midwest.
Just my opinion though, I grew up in Missouri and definitely feel like the summers there were much worse. One thing that also adds to the miserable conditions in the midwest is the amount of corn fields they have. This traps in the moisture and makes it feel much hotter.
If you just go by the numbers, the summer in the midwest can actually be worse than Charlotte. Our dew point values typically hover in the mid to upper 60s for most of the summer. In the midwest, there are areas where the dew point can reach well into the 70s consistently. This leads to higher heat index values. We will get stretches where it gets that hot at times, but typically they don't last as long as it does in the midwest.
Just my opinion though, I grew up in Missouri and definitely feel like the summers there were much worse. One thing that also adds to the miserable conditions in the midwest is the amount of corn fields they have. This traps in the moisture and makes it feel much hotter.
I agree with this. I moved from Missouri as well. Missouri definitely seemed to have more extremes (hotter hot days, colder cold days, and higher humidity). I spent a little more than half a year watching the temperature and humidity numbers between Charlotte, NC and Springfield, MO before moving here and 9 out of 10 days Charlotte was warmer on cold days and cooler on hot days with less humidity every time.
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