My ranking of America's largest cities from coldest to warmest winters (to live, average)

[belmont22]

Cold winters:

Minneapolis: 8-24F (January) Very long, extremely cold, very snowy, dry, windy
Detroit: 19-32F (January) Very long, very cold, very snowy, wet, windy
Chicago: 18-32F (January) Long, very cold, snowy, wet, windy, windy
Cleveland: 22-34F (January) Very long, very cold, very snowy, wet, windy
Indianapolis: 21-36F (January) Long, very cold, snowy, wet, windy
Pittsburgh: 21-36F (January) Long, very cold, very snowy, wet, windy
Boston: 22-36F (January) Long, very cold, very snowy, wet, windy
Denver: 17-42F (December) Very long, very cold, very snowy, very dry
Cincinnati: 23-39F (January) Long, very cold, snowy, wet, windy
St. Louis: 24-40F (January) Long, very cold, snowy, wet, windy
Kansas City: 22-40F (January) Long, very cold, snowy, dry, windy
Philadelphia: 26-40F (January) Long, cold, snowy, wet, windy
New York City: 27-38F (January) Average length, cold, snowy, wet, windy
DC: 29-44F (January) Long, cold, snowy, wet, windy

Mild winters:

Portland: 35-46F (December) Long, mild, little snow, wet
Seattle: 36-46F (December) Long, mild, little snow, wet
Charlotte: 30-51F (January) Short, mild, little snow, wet
Atlanta: 34-52F (January) Short, mild, little snow, wet, windy
Dallas: 37-57F (January) Short, mild, little snow, wet, windy
Sacramento: 38-54F (December) Short, mild, snowless, wet

No winters:

San Francisco: 46-57F (January) 52F
San Antonio: 41-63F (January) 52F
Houston: 43-63F (January) 53F
Phoenix: 45-66F (December) 56F
San Diego: 48-65F (December) 57F
Los Angeles: 48-68F (December) 58F
Orlando: 60-71F (January) 66F
Miami: 60-76F (January) 68F

[2e1m5a]

Philly is a couple degrees warmer than NYC on average, so I would switch them.

[belmont22]

Originally Posted by 2e1m5a

Philly is a couple degrees warmer than NYC on average, so I would switch them.

I gave Philly the edge because the winter is a bit longer.

[2e1m5a]

Originally Posted by belmont22

I gave Philly the edge because the winter is a bit longer.

Mmh, not really. What makes you say that?
Anyway, the winters in the two cities are too similar to split hairs over.

[belmont22]

Originally Posted by 2e1m5a

Mmh, not really. What makes you say that?
Anyway, the winters in the two cities are too similar to split hairs over.

Yeah they are pretty much the same.

[JerseyGirl415]

Originally Posted by belmont22

Cold winters:

Minneapolis: 8-24F (January) Very long, extremely cold, very snowy, dry, windy
Detroit: 19-32F (January) Very long, very cold, very snowy, wet, windy
Chicago: 18-32F (January) Long, very cold, snowy, wet, windy, windy
Cleveland: 22-34F (January) Very long, very cold, very snowy, wet, windy
Indianapolis: 21-36F (January) Long, very cold, snowy, wet, windy
Pittsburgh: 21-36F (January) Long, very cold, very snowy, wet, windy
Boston: 22-36F (January) Long, very cold, very snowy, wet, windy
Denver: 17-42F (December) Very long, very cold, very snowy, very dry
Cincinnati: 23-39F (January) Long, very cold, snowy, wet, windy
St. Louis: 24-40F (January) Long, very cold, snowy, wet, windy
Kansas City: 22-40F (January) Long, very cold, snowy, dry, windy
Philadelphia: 26-40F (January) Long, cold, snowy, wet, windy
New York City: 27-38F (January) Average length, cold, snowy, wet, windy
DC: 29-44F (January) Long, cold, snowy, wet, windy

Mild winters:

Portland: 35-46F (December) Long, mild, little snow, wet
Seattle: 36-46F (December) Long, mild, little snow, wet
Charlotte: 30-51F (January) Short, mild, little snow, wet
Atlanta: 34-52F (January) Short, mild, little snow, wet, windy
Dallas: 37-57F (January) Short, mild, little snow, wet, windy
Sacramento: 38-54F (December) Short, mild, snowless, wet

No winters:

San Francisco: 46-57F (January) 52F
San Antonio: 41-63F (January) 52F
Houston: 43-63F (January) 53F
Phoenix: 45-66F (December) 56F
San Diego: 48-65F (December) 57F
Los Angeles: 48-68F (December) 58F
Orlando: 60-71F (January) 66F
Miami: 60-76F (January) 68F

You think DC has longer winters than New York?

[belmont22]

Originally Posted by JerseyGirl415

You think DC has longer winters than New York?

The figures I saw seem to suggest so, but not by much.

[Metro Matt]

Originally Posted by belmont22

Cold winters:

Minneapolis: 8-24F (January) Very long, extremely cold, very snowy, dry, windy
Detroit: 19-32F (January) Very long, very cold, very snowy, wet, windy
Chicago: 18-32F (January) Long, very cold, snowy, wet, windy, windy
Cleveland: 22-34F (January) Very long, very cold, very snowy, wet, windy
Indianapolis: 21-36F (January) Long, very cold, snowy, wet, windy
Pittsburgh: 21-36F (January) Long, very cold, very snowy, wet, windy
Boston: 22-36F (January) Long, very cold, very snowy, wet, windy
Denver: 17-42F (December) Very long, very cold, very snowy, very dry
Cincinnati: 23-39F (January) Long, very cold, snowy, wet, windy
St. Louis: 24-40F (January) Long, very cold, snowy, wet, windy
Kansas City: 22-40F (January) Long, very cold, snowy, dry, windy
Philadelphia: 26-40F (January) Long, cold, snowy, wet, windy
New York City: 27-38F (January) Average length, cold, snowy, wet, windy
DC: 29-44F (January) Long, cold, snowy, wet, windy

Mild winters:

Portland: 35-46F (December) Long, mild, little snow, wet
Seattle: 36-46F (December) Long, mild, little snow, wet
Charlotte: 30-51F (January) Short, mild, little snow, wet
Atlanta: 34-52F (January) Short, mild, little snow, wet, windy
Dallas: 37-57F (January) Short, mild, little snow, wet, windy
Sacramento: 38-54F (December) Short, mild, snowless, wet

No winters:

San Francisco: 46-57F (January) 52F
San Antonio: 41-63F (January) 52F
Houston: 43-63F (January) 53F
Phoenix: 45-66F (December) 56F
San Diego: 48-65F (December) 57F
Los Angeles: 48-68F (December) 58F
Orlando: 60-71F (January) 66F
Miami: 60-76F (January) 68F

Dallas can get down into the teens & Houston lower 20's.

Not needing coats & sweaters in Houston is a myth.

[OptimusPrime69]

Cold Winters:== I don't want to live there.
Minneapolis
Detroit
Chicago
Boston
NYC
Philly
Baltimore
DC
Cincy
Salt Lake City
Denver,CO
Anywhere in Maine
Juneau Alaska

Best Winters: I'd live in any of these cities
Miami
San Diego
LA
Phoenix
Orlando

[rnc2mbfl]

I am always amused by the "averages" reported for Miami in January.
In my last 12 Winters in Miami, it's never been my experience that the average low in January is 60 degrees. I decided to pull up the almanac for this past Winter and look at Miami day by day in January. What I discovered is the following:

1 day where the morning low was below 60. It was 56.1 degrees on the morning of January 18th.
11 days where the morning low was in the 60s with 4 of those days being above 69 degrees.
3 days where the mean temperature was below the reported 68 degrees
19 days where the overnight low was actually 70 or above including 13 days at 73 or above.
Every single day of the month had a high in the 70s ranging from 71.6 to 77.9
Some of the variances in low to high temperatures were only 2 degrees or less.

While this past Winter was warmer than normal for the US, I found Miami's Winter to be its typical "perfect". While some past Winters have had a few outlier days where the lows actually dipped into the high 40s and the highs reached only into the 60s, the reality is that the typical January day in Miami is more like 70 for the low and 75 for the high.