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It's pretty amazing that Victoria, BC is in the same hardiness zone (9B) as Orlando! Or that all but the southernmost part of Alabama has a colder average annual minimum temperature than Portland, Oregon.
The difference I guess would be that in the Deep South it can actually get warm during the winter while in the Pacific Northwest one can easily have a stretch of 4 months that fails to top 70 or even 65 degrees. Also winters are much shorter there, in Oregon and Washington winters are no shorter than they are in the Midwest and Northeast, they are just much warmer.
Basically in the Pacific Northwest (west of the Cascades) you're looking at winter temps ranging from 25 to 60F while in the Deep South the range for Dec-Feb is more like 15F to 75F.
The difference is that winter here (PNW) lasts from the beginning of October to the middle of May and it doesn't top 70 degrees during that span really ever
The difference is that winter here (PNW) lasts from the beginning of October to the middle of May and it doesn't top 70 degrees during that span really ever
It can get 70 or even 80+ from March onwards but it's pretty unusual, I concur. Mostly 70+ is found between June and September and the rest of the year is cool to cold.
Another one where someone is trying their hardest to say the Pacific Northwest is the greatest place on earth
LOL! Or someone trying to make a decision.
I lived in WA state and in TN. The winters are milder in the PNW in my experience. BUT, you will see the sun way more often and the winter is shorter in the south.
I lived in WA state and in TN. The winters are milder in the PNW in my experience. BUT, you will see the sun way more often and the winter is shorter in the south.
I wouldn't really say TN is the "deep south", but yes I'd definitely say it has colder, albeit shorter winters. The cold season in the PNW lasts from the end of October to early April - I'm defining "cold season" by the time of the year that's <50F half of the time or more. In TN it's probably only like 4 months compared to nearly 6.
It's pretty amazing that Victoria, BC is in the same hardiness zone (9B) as Orlando! Or that all but the southernmost part of Alabama has a colder average annual minimum temperature than Portland, Oregon.
The difference I guess would be that in the Deep South it can actually get warm during the winter while in the Pacific Northwest one can easily have a stretch of 4 months that fails to top 70 or even 65 degrees. Also winters are much shorter there, in Oregon and Washington winters are no shorter than they are in the Midwest and Northeast, they are just much warmer.
Basically in the Pacific Northwest (west of the Cascades) you're looking at winter temps ranging from 25 to 60F while in the Deep South the range for Dec-Feb is more like 15F to 75F.
This is not even a comparison for a few reasons.
1). The temps over the winter are consistently colder over the winter time in the PNW. In the deep south you can get extreme temps jumping past 70 in the middle of winter. That never happens in the PWN.
For instance the average high in the heart of winter in Victoria is 42 degrees F., and in July it is only 68 degrees F. Hardly Orlando!
2). The cloud cover in the PNW can last from late September all the way to June.
3). What do you define as the PNW? It is only a very small sliver of land that is mild during the winter, and that is where the people live. Once you get past the immediate coastal areas, it gets pretty cold with some of the deepest snows in North America.
The habitable land on Vancouver Island (where Victoria is located), is a very small area of land. Most of Vancouver Island is covered in mtns.
In conclusion. The winter in the PNW is nothing like the deep south.
Here is a typical snowcover map for the end of March. Pretty much the entire deep south is free of snow by winter. The only places in the PNW that don't have snow on the ground is the narrow I-5 corridor from Vancouver to Portland. You can't compare apples and oranges.
Last edited by skihikeclimb; 12-28-2013 at 10:25 AM..
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and it doesn't top 70 degrees during that span really ever
