Where does it become "too cold" in the United States? (how much, living)

[Trimac20]

I think anywhere where winter averages below freezing has a 'harsh' winter.

[Proterra]

I would draw my line from Gander, NF to Caribou, ME, west to Timmins and Kenora, ON where it crosses into Manitoba and passes between Winnipeg and Thompson, towards Flin Flon on the MB/SK border from where it continues into Saskatchewan, and passes further west, north of Saskatoon towards Fort McMurray, AB and Whitehorse, YT, where it crosses into Alaska and pretty much includes the whole South Central part of the state below this line, including the island of Kodiak, but not the Alaska Peninsula.

Pretty much any climate which starts with "E" or ends with "c", whith the exceptions of "Dsc" and "Csc" is north of my line.

Cfa, BWh and BSh and all climates which start with "A" are too hot for year-round habitation in my opinion. "Csa" and "Dfa" are borderline, although being too hot in the summer, they're doing reasonably well in either the sunshine department or have decent winters.

My personal favourite climate in the United States is that in the Black Hills.

[Maintainschaos]

North of the Twin Cities, for me, is too harsh of a winter.

But also, south of, say, Memphis is too hot of a summer for me.

I'd rather deal with the harsh cold than the unbearable heat.

[CookieSkoon]

For me too cold is seasonal only. I grew up in upstate NY and while the winters were terrible, the springs and summers were beautiful for it. And a ton less buggy than the south. XD

[steel03]

Originally Posted by stlouisan

And as far as Great LAkes go, in the interior Midwest there are many cities equal as bad (Minneapolis, Omaha, Des Moines, etc.)

Omaha and Des Moines are about one "cold" layer away from Minneapolis. I moved from Minneapolis to Des Moines and winter is definitely a bit milder here (not that it isn't brutal some days, haha). March and November in Minneapolis are like February and December in Des Moines, generally. I'd guess Omaha is similar.

[Colts]

Too cold is relative.

Someone from Barrow, AK might think the Twin Cities is downright balmy during the winter. Conversely, someone from Honolulu might think that Atlanta is more than a bit chilly in January.

It should be noted that the most widely used climate classification system, the Köppen classification system, does delineate between warm and cool climates in the humid eastern half of the United States.

In general, I would consider any city with a humid continental climate to be at least moderately cold.

[mike0421]

Originally Posted by caphillsea77

I would say most places north of I-70

For me, it's more like places north of I-40! Some days, any place north of I-10.

[lammius]

In the map below, zones 2-4 are mighty cold. I'd be most comfortable in zones 5 and 6.

[po-boy]

Originally Posted by lammius

In the map below, zones 2-4 are mighty cold. I'd be most comfortable in zones 5 and 6.

I generally think it is "too cold" when lows are below freezing and/or when highs are below about 45 degrees f. I dislike ice and snow, and I like being able to comfortably be outside most of the year.

Using that map, I grew up in Zones 8 and 9. I currently live in Zone 7 and this is about my limit. It is occasionally "too cold" for me here, although this has been a pretty mild winter.

[Ohiogirl81]

Too cold for what?