Do You Like Winter? (home, to buy, live in)

[Guardian]

I've noticed that in a lot of the Midwestern forums people complain about how cold, dreary, and gray winter is. So I was wondering, do like winter? And exactly what is it like in your area.

Here in Michigan winter is, of course, cold. I don't really find it depressing, but I do wish it weren't so long.

[Waterlily]

Winter lasts longer when you are in one of the northern states. No I don't like winter. Here on the Oregon coast we get gloom and rain all winter. Spring has more rain and gloom with a few days of sun mixed in.

The good thing is that summer and fall has nice weather.

[GraniteStater]

Yes, I like winter but have to travel to the northwoods or the mountains to enjoy winter sports like skiing, snowboarding, ice fishing, and snowmobiling. I am moving to NH, and luckily all of these winter sports activities are available. Meanwhile, I currently live in Eastern Kansas where a normal summer means that high temperatures are in the 90s with high humidity. That is a bad combination.

[dullnboring]

I like it for a very short stint. It's a nice relief of sorts at first but it really starts to drag. My stream of consciousness thoughts during the Winter:

November - "Ooh, crisp nights. Hey look, I can see my breath! Cool! I can wear my new jacket and snuggle up under the covers at night and drink hot chocolate."

December - "Sniff sniff. This cold of mine is sort of getting on my nerves. I need to buy more Kleenex. That first snowfall was beautiful though. It's been so long since I've seen snow. Christmas is almost here! Hopefully we get a White Christmas! Those are beautiful."

January - "I feel like I never see sunlight anymore. It's dark when I leave for work and dark when I come home. I'm always so tired. My nose is red and scratched up. Today I was talking to someone when a big glop of snot fell out of my nose. I hate driving with gloves on. My car takes forever to heat up in the morning. I'm so sick of shoveling snow. It makes my back hurt. People are driving like maniacs. My heating bill is through the roof!"

February - "**** YOU Mother Nature!" *starts googling time shares in Costa Rica*

Our winters in the DC area actually arent' horrific compared to a lot of places. In the dead of winter, high temperatures still are generally in the upper 30s or low 40s with lows in the low 20s or upper teens. Temperatures in the single digits only occur a couple of times each Winter, and it's very rare to have a stretch longer than a few days where temperatures don't exceed 32 degrees. We also generally will have a warm spell at some point if not multiple points during the Winter to give a bit of respite, where temperatures may be anywhere from 10-20 degrees above average.

We average around 25 inches of snow a year (in DC itself, only around 15 I think), generally getting our first snowfall in December, usually a tiny one, and then the rest falling in January and February. Snowfall in March isn't that common but interestingly enough, some of our worst blizzards have been in March. Blizzards dumping one or two feet of snow occur once every five years or so. Otherwise, we usually get three of four storms of 4+ inches and then a lot of little one inch or half an inch storms for a total of maybe 10 days per winter of measureable snowfall.

It's not awful, but my tolerance for cold has been decreasing with every year.

[ColoWeb]

Yes, I do. I like all of the four seasons.

[DaninEGF]

Yes I love winter and hate summer....the opposite of most people. I prefer the cloudier, and less sunlight days to the bright sun days. Oh I can stand a few sunny days...but more than about 3 or 4 in a row and it gets to me. My mom always said as a teenager she had to pull me in kicking and screaming in the winter....while in the summer I would stay indoors with the a/c on and blinds pulled. I was born and raised in western Kentucky and watched TV weather for forecast of winter storms (we did not get many) and that is how I got my love of forecasting the weather.

So...my dream was to go as far north as possible but yet still be somewhat closer to home and civilization and of course in a place where a job in weather was avbl. That finally led me to NWS Grand Forks ND which is probably the coldest town of 50,000 there is in the contential U.S. I think the coldest town with weather records in the lower 48 is Langdon ND about 75 miles northwest of Grand Forks. Of course International Falls MN is known as the nations ice box but there highs can climb warmer than Langdon due to pine tree effect....which can help the area warm up during the day with sun whereas snowcovered prairies all the sun's energy is reflected back.

We have long winters here...and quite cold usually....coldest part mid December thru mid February where you often get a few days with the highs and lows below zero...and on a mild day you get 25 above....30 above in that time of year and you are sweating. It doesnt snow a lot....but what we get stays on the ground and wind is a problem with several periods of blowing snow and white out conditions expected each winter....more of a problem in rural areas than in town. Overall our winters are not for everyone....but it does toughen one up.

Oh yes people do think I am odd in me liking the cold so much. Not the norm for sure.

Dan

[TerryTurtle27]

Please cause gridlock, snowbirds. And many wrecks, too.

Who doesn't love the highs of 70?

No yellow snow here; just brown air. Can't go outside today.

Ahhhh..........Nothing like a Phoenix winter!

[Jake1256]

it's nice, all the white snow glittered along the streets trees..etc.

[Steve-o]

Winter rocks. I LOVE winter actually.

[Spade]

I love winter. My favorite season. I hate Summer. Absolutely uncomfortable for 3 months of the year. Thank GOD July is almost over.