[LeavingFL4Seasons]

Oh, and one more thought. I've come to realize that there are many factors regarding a person's heat/cold tolerance/preference. I think amount of natural body insulation (muscle and fat) and blood-pressure make a big impact on that.

A big person with high BP is unlikely to appreciate the heat as much as a thin person with low BP, and vice versa regarding cold.

Taking ginko biloba every day has increased the blood flow to my skin, and my usually lowish BP elevated into the normal range. It made a huge difference in my ability to tolerate and even enjoy the winter.

[TANaples]

Originally Posted by LeavingFL4Seasons

Oh, and one more thought. I've come to realize that there are many factors regarding a person's heat/cold tolerance/preference. I think amount of natural body insulation (muscle and fat) and blood-pressure make a big impact on that.

A big person with high BP is unlikely to appreciate the heat as much as a thin person with low BP, and vice versa regarding cold.

Taking ginko biloba every day has increased the blood flow to my skin, and my usually lowish BP elevated into the normal range. It made a huge difference in my ability to tolerate and even enjoy the winter.

I wear a size 1. I am also 60 years old. In the cold I just layer, and at my size, it is very easy to layer. I cannot take the heat, but couldn't even as a 10 year old weighing 50 lbs. I was always underweight.

It is just your personal body chemistry which starts in childhood. If you didn't like cold, or heat, as a kid, it will intensify when you get old.

I also break out in rashes from the sun and the heat. I also did as a child.

[Mugatu]

Originally Posted by LeavingFL4Seasons

I lived in Sarasota, Florida for the first 23 years of my life. I moved to Nashville for 10 months and then here to Pittsburgh. The move occurred because my sister, her husband and children moved here.

I always hated the heat in FL, I remember despising it even as a kid. PE was a nightmare in school, every day I dreaded it. The heat and humidity would choke me and make it very difficult to breathe. I remember the swarming mosquitoes, the constant sunburns and subsequent healing process. I remember always fantasizing about living in Long Island, where my family is from...and resenting my mom for settling in FL before I was born. I spent most of the year cloistered in air conditioned rooms. And regarding the beach...the Gulf of Mexico is not very refreshing from June on. During July and August, the water temp is usually about 88 degrees...though I've seen it reach 90. Does that sound pleasant on a 88-92 degree day with a heat index over 100?

Now I am in Pittsburgh. I moved here during the heaviest snowfall of this past winter, literally as it was falling we were pulling up in the moving truck. It was so beautiful, I was delighted. I don't mind the cold as much as the heat. However, it does get tiresome, it lasts too long here for the comfort of most.

I think of it this way, and of course this is a matter of opinion - Florida, to me, is unbearable for 3 seasons of the year and beautiful for one. Western PA is beautiful for 3 seasons of the year and rather uncomfortable for one. 3-1 - Pittsburgh wins.

The spring and summer here have been breathtakingly beautiful. I know this is an abnormally mild year. It's August 31 and our high temp today was 69, with plenty of sun and moderate humidity. Freaking gorgeous! I so look forward to autumn. I'm totally glad I moved up here.

My favorite climate is Oceanic. I'd like to live in the Pacific Northwest some day. I love cloudy, rainy days...and prefer more clouds than sun overall. Winter is the only time of year where it is usually gray here in Western PA, from what I've experienced and researched. Live for a year in the Northeast, than a year in Florida, and then compare. It is certainly true that visiting doesn't give a clear enough picture. I've know people who wanted back out of FL as soon as they realized how the constant heat would affect them. And most of them had other reasons for wanting out: cost of living, overzealous law enforcement, boredom regarding the flat topography, lack of interesting architecture, etc...

BTW - I think a lot of you are mistaken when you say most people prefer what they're used to, though obviously that is sometimes the case. Most people I meet in Pitt fantasize about FL or NC. When I was a kid I fantasized about the North. Fortunately for me, sometimes the grass really IS greener!

Wow, are you my twin? I could have almost written the same thing word for word.

I have exactly the same experience as you except I spent the first 35 years of my life in FL, then moved to Pittsburgh for a better job opportunity. I agree 100% with everything you wrote. Even though I grew up in FL, I NEVER got used to the heat. It actually bothered me more as I got older. Just going out the door to get the newspaper at 6am and being hit with that wall of humidity made me depressed. The heat just NEVER freaking ends in FL. Even the "beautiful" winters were too much for me when you get 82 degree days in December. That's just not my cup of tea.

I absolutely love the weather in Pittsburgh, but I thought I was the only one. The "Yinzers" sure do like to complain about the weather don't they? Of course it's gloomy in the winter, but the spring, summer and fall are great. People in Pittsburgh really don't see that, they just focus on the gloomy winter. Today was sheer perfection. This whole week will be sunny with highs in the 70's and lows in the 40's and 50's. WONDERFUL! I like the winters too, I still feel like a kid on Christmas morning when it snows. This will be my 4th winter up here. The cold isn't a big deal to me, I can deal with a Pittsburgh winter much better than a Florida summer. It's just not as bad as people kept telling me it would be. I still jog and do outdoor activities in the winter here. Ironically, I have been much more active up here than I ever was in FL, I can jog all day in the cold, but would feel like I'm ready to pass out after running one block in FL. I've lost 25 lbs since I moved up here because I've become so much more active.

Funny you mentioned all Pittsburghers wanting to move to FL or NC. I was just discussing that with someone at work today. I said that even though there are 49 other states, all Pittsburghers want to do is move to FL or the Outer Banks! So let me guess, every time you tell people here you are from FL they give you that horrified look and say "eww, why would you move here?"

[ExNooYawk]

Originally Posted by ChrisA70

What I need to do is hit the lottery, because for sure I would live in FL. from November(day after Thanksgiving), until April 1st. Then back to Massachusetts from April 1st, until November. I have to have Thanksgiving in New England. And fly up for Christmas week. I need to be a snow bird. I hate Florida summers, and hate -25 degree wind chills too. Sucks to be me.

Chris... We are in such total agreement that it's cosmic.

[ChrisA70]

Too bad we can't have both. For now I will just deal with the heat, it's almost into the better weather season in FL.

[doggiebus]

Originally Posted by LeavingFL4Seasons

A big person with high BP is unlikely to appreciate the heat as much as a thin person with low BP, and vice versa regarding cold.

For some yes this does apply, but then there are healthy, normal blood pressure and thin people like myself that can't take the heat and humidity.

[8palmtrees]

DEFINITELY the colder winters up north is A LOT worse!

[Sunny-Days-in-Florida]

I am get chilled many ways ( pool, shade, ice tea, ocean, etc ) but I sure cannot get warm once it hit's anything below 40. ( actually 50 ! )

So for me the cold winters is worse.

Then again, I like it hot while some cannot stand it being hot.

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by Mugatu

I absolutely love the weather in Pittsburgh, but I thought I was the only one. The "Yinzers" sure do like to complain about the weather don't they? Of course it's gloomy in the winter, but the spring, summer and fall are great. People in Pittsburgh really don't see that, they just focus on the gloomy winter.

Same thing in Knoxville. I'm from New England and lived in Florida, part of it in brutal swFlorida, for ten years.

In Knoxville they might get a dusting of snow, and it is normal for it to be in 50s in the winter (at least), but all they do is complain. When it hits the 70s in spring you would think they would faint dead away. Some people have no idea how lucky they are.

[xlabel]

I guess it depends where up North because the winters here in Michigan seem pretty endless as well. I'll take the heat anyday. I hate everyday of winter, everything is a PITA. You have to get up early and dress in layers and spend 10 minutes scraping ice and brushing snow off the car, don't forget to salt the steps or you'll end up on your arse in a hurry. Every trip is a white-knuckle drive that can make you feel like it's your last one. The worst part is the late snow, like April where you get a week of spring and then the dreaded white stuff comes right back again.