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I have relatives in D.C. who have told me that generally D.C. doesn't get as cold as often as STL or normally get nearly as much snow, although it does get as cold. It's all subjective. I'm no longer holding onto the notion that STL is much colder than Philly. I never have....I was under the assumption that STL will get below freezing more than Philly will. I also never was able to obtain a measurable average snowfall for Philadelphia until now....it could have been that I was using the Trenton-Mercer airport instead of KPHL. Obviously, I was wrong. Also, Philadelphia is placed firmly in the humid subtropical zone....St. Louis is borderline humid continental and humid subtropical. You've driven the nail in far enough though. No need to do it any further unless you just enjoy it. I would however, assume that Philadelphia would have more thaws and days where it is not cold than St. Louis would. I could be wrong there too.
No need to twist the nail. The most important thing is that we enjoy the cold weather we're about to enter into. For me, the more snow the better.
Hopefully we'll meet in another thread. In the meantime, enjoy SL - I think you live in a great city.
I live in Pittsburgh where a normal year has 40 to 45 inches of snow so only getting about 20 inches of snow would not be enough for me and not feel like winter lol. Then, there are also places north of here that get the brunt of lake effect snow where an hour north of here 60 or more inches of snow a year is common (Up in Erie, Johnstown, and NE Ohio almost 100 inches of snow a year is the norm).
Location: Jefferson City 4 days a week, St. Louis 3 days a week
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jm02
No need to twist the nail. The most important thing is that we enjoy the cold weather we're about to enter into. For me, the more snow the better.
Hopefully we'll meet in another thread. In the meantime, enjoy SL - I think you live in a great city.
Later -- jm02
Yep, I am a cold weather person too. The one thing I will give Philly is that at least to my knowledge it is not nearly as hot and sticky in the summer as St. Louis is. We're not as bad as Texas in the summer, but still not good enough for me. Des Moines, Omaha, Kansas City, St. Louis, D.C., and Baltimore are all pretty intolerable in the summer. All have long, hot, and humid summers. I absolutely hate heat and humidity together. Being white, hairy male is about as bad a mix as one can have for heat and humidity. I almost never go outside during the summer except in the morning and at night.
I think the difference between St. Louis and Philly is is that St. Louis tends to get colder earlier in the season (November, December, etc) while Philly stays cooler for a little longer later in the season (March, April, etc). You also have to remember that St. Louis is a bit further south than Philly as well.
The major adjustment for me was clothing. I moved from GA to OH first but now in MD. In the fall I could still put on shorts or just wear a light jacket but living where there is a "real" winter shorts only exist in the summer and light jackets get put up late October/early November. Other than that I just had to buy supplies such as a shovel, salt, and a scrapper. I actually enjoyed my first snow because I wasn't used to it but what I did not enjoy was having to shovel my car out and driving in the snow. Everything went well as you can see I moved to another state where they have snow. I'm happy with my move. I can deal with the snow.
When I was 8 years old my family moved from Santa Cruz, California to Edmonton, Alberta. I think I'd seen snow maybe once or twice in my life at that point(and only a few random snowbanks in the Sierra in the summer) and there I was living in a place where it get as cold as 0 F. It was weird watching the temperature drop in November and realizing it wouldn't get above freezing until March. Blizzards were kind of fun, I remember though it would have to be extremely cold before they ever considered canceling school. That first winter my younger brother forgot his mittens and practically got frostbite on the walk home from school. I remember being terrified in my 3rd grade PE class when I was dragged onto the outside ice rink, after never tried ice skating before in my life.
My brother and I adapted quick though, and after a year we were huge hockey fans and started playing ourselves(this was the tail-end of the Edmonton Oilers Stanley Cup dynasty)--and learned to ski--which you could do right outside of town on the little local hills although we also took trips to the Canadian Rockies. I look back with nostalgia on my four years in Canada--I think living up the cold north builds character, by the time we returned to California it seemed like this weird, overly liberal place without any real seasonal changes.
Always fun to come across someone else who lived in Santa Cruz, CA. I, too was born and raised there in the 70, 80, 90's. Love that place and miss it!
To answer the OP question: We left California (no snow) and moved to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Looking back on that experience I think it wasn't the snow so much that made us leave but the lack of sunshine. Sunshine in the winter is a must have for me!
I moved from Tucson to Chicago when I was 18 to go to college and am still here 27 years later. The only other place I had lived before was California, so I had no real winter experience. Winter and snow were a big novelty to me the first few years. The adjustment was certainly helped by the fact that I started out on a college campus and didn't have to shovel snow or drive in it. I've actually never had a car in the city, so I've still never driven in snow and/or ice and thanks to living in rentals and condos, I only shoveled snow for the first time about 3 years ago.
The big initial adjustment was learning how to dress for winter, and not just staying warm. Part of that was learning how to not overheat too. My mom made sure I had long underwear when I came here, but I had to learn for myself that wearing them feels great during the 10 minutes you're outside on your way somehere, but that you end up boiling for the hours you spend indoors at your normally heated destination.
As time has worn on and the novelty of winter has worn off, the big issue for me in Chicago is the length of winter. I still don't mind even the worst of the cold December - February. That's when "winter" is supposed to be, so I can't live here and not expect to be cold then. But what has gotten old is that as the days start getting longer and the calendar says March, April and sometimes May, it's often still pretty damn cold.
The reward for the punishment of winter is getting a true four-season climate, including relatively mild summers and falls. That makes it bearable to me because I would be very bored with the 1 1/2 seasons in southern Arizona. All of my family in Arizona and California think I'm crazy for still living here, but I'd still rather suffer a little for the advantages of the big city.
The whole "long underwear" thing, is a bit overplayed; you really don't need for the vast majority of the winter. Only when temps dip into the single digits,. or when you're going to be outside for many hours, are times when you might consider wearing it. You;ll find yourself sweating quickly if you wear long underwear when it's in the 30s...
The whole "long underwear" thing, is a bit overplayed; you really don't need for the vast majority of the winter. Only when temps dip into the single digits,. or when you're going to be outside for many hours, are times when you might consider wearing it. You;ll find yourself sweating quickly if you wear long underwear when it's in the 30s...
I've never needed long underwear in my life. I doesn't get cold enough for it to be used and I'm usually not outside for more than 15 to 20 minutes at a time.
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