What area of American has the perfect balance of seasons? (live in, activities)
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I'm trying to figure out a place in the US that has equal parts spring, summer, fall and winter with the corresponding weather and changes in seasons. So basically each season covers a distinct 1/4 of the year and has distinct weather and temperatures for each season.
I live in Atlanta, so here's what I think the breakdown is for us
Summer: 40% summer (May to September)
Autumn: 25% Autumn (October to early December)
Winter: 20% Winter (rest of December to early March)
Spring:15% Spring (rest of March to April- the best time of year in Atlanta but the shortest)
And just for fun how about LA. I consider their typical weather to be
what I would call spring so...
Spring: 80% (February to November)
Winter: 20% (December and January)
Miami's typical weather is what I would consider summer, so
Summer: 85% (March to December)
Winter (if you want to call it that): 15% (January and February)
My pick for perfect seasons? I think the closest would be DC
Spring: 20% (late March to May) cherry blossoms
Summer: 30% (June to to early September) summer heat and humidity
Autumn: 25% (Late September to November) lovely fall colors
Winter: 25% (December to early March) nor'easters
I live in Atlanta, so here's what I think the breakdown is for us
Summer: 40% summer (May to September)
Autumn: 25% Autumn (October to early December)
Winter: 20% Winter (rest of December to early March)
Spring:15% Spring (rest of March to April- the best time of year in Atlanta but the shortest)
And just for fun how about LA. I consider their typical weather to be
what I would call spring so...
Spring: 80% (February to November)
Winter: 20% (December and January)
I've lived in LA and Atlanta.
I'd say your Atlanta summer is too long. The uncomfortable period is about 2.5 months. Obviously, you will have gorgeous days on either side of that. Make spring a little longer. There are too many 55 to 60 degree days in winter to call it winter.
LA only has summer and spring. You will get about 5 to 15 days in winter where it will rain like cats and dogs, but it won't be cold. Also, there are 65 to 70 degree days between December and March. Then, is it any wonder people can't afford to pay the "sunshine tax?"
Portland and Seattle
45% Drizzle (Autumn and Spring)
25% Downpour rain and a sprinkle of snow (Winter)
30% Non-rainy (Summer)
Also, it gets pretty hot here in LA during the summer, and this year we've been having heatwaves in January and rain and cold in April, we really can't make up what season we're in.
I think the lower Midwest has the closest to 4 equal seasons, but the extremes are too much for a lot of people. The Mid-Atlantic has a similar balance, but with less extremes.
Portland and Seattle
45% Drizzle (Autumn and Spring)
25% Downpour rain and a sprinkle of snow (Winter)
30% Non-rainy (Summer)
Also, it gets pretty hot here in LA during the summer, and this year we've been having heatwaves in January and rain and cold in April, we really can't make up what season we're in.
LA is like truly sub-tropical, it doesn't really have seasons at all. Portland and Seattle I agree, I'd say um, winter lasts from November to April basically, spring is May and June, and summer is very late June to early September, fall would be late september and October.
So Portland is like 50% winter, 18% spring, 22% summer, and 10% fall.
This is impossible to define, as preferences vary (as well as what constitutes a 'distinct' season). I, for example, believe winter should involve a healthy amount of snow. Others would agree, while still others would argue to the contrary. Life-long residents of the Pac Northwest can tell the difference between a fall, a winter and a spring rain, whereas many of us would dub all these days as just 'rainy.'
This is impossible to define, as preferences vary (as well as what constitutes a 'distinct' season). I, for example, believe winter should involve a healthy amount of snow. Others would agree, while still others would argue to the contrary. Life-long residents of the Pac Northwest can tell the difference between a fall, a winter and a spring rain, whereas many of us would dub all these days as just 'rainy.'
Ergo, the question is inherently flawed.
To me the PNW just has six months of mild but very long winter.
Location: ๏̯͡๏﴿ Gwinnett-That's a Civil Matter-County
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I think what you're finding out is that the idea people have of "4 real seasons" doesn't exist in nature.
And when people say they want "4 real seasons," what they're saying is that was some snow but not too much. They want to see fall foliage, They want summer but not too hot. And they want to be reminded it's spring by seeing flowers blooming.
I think the people that got it figured out are the folks on the west coast...
They said "you can keep your 4 seasons, just give us the ones that don't suck"
For those that are looking for a place with seasons, Instead I would suggest looking for a place with the most (what I call) "usable days" for the kinds of outdoor activities you enjoy.
If you're like me and don't like to use the air conditioner, you need to find a place that stays below 86 degrees and cools down into the upper 50s or low 60s at night.
I'd say your analysis of the seasons in atlanta are pretty much spot on. I like to say we have 3.5 seasons here. Usually the half season is spring but this year we had a marvelous spring but didn't have much of a winter. I wore shorts every day this winter.
Despite that, we do have a decent number of usable days here. At least for the stuff I like to do. From mem.day on, the weather becomes unusable up until about october with the rare ocassion of either a cold front swooping down like we had last year when there were a couple of days in july that were in the 60's and the rare remnants of a tropical system that brings us some relief from the droughty and sunny summer.
There should be a new index created "Usable weather days".
Days where it's not too hot, not too cold, not too anything else.
I'd say atlanta has about 160 usable weather days a year.
If you go up to about 2000 foot elevation (like Asheville, NC) that number increases dramatically.
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