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Sure, it's all preferences, and I completely understand all sides of this. What I don't understand, is how it can be so dominant in one direction.
The poster that talked about wearing dress clothes for work, etc. in that heat nailed one of my thoughts. I can't imagine wearing a business suit (like I do from time to time now) when it's 90+ and humid out. How miserable. At least when it's cold you can wear a coat and hat and 95% of the time be perfectly fine.
Honestly, much of the issue I have is with people from the north that think of how awesome it would be to move to Phoenix or Miami, etc. Anyone seriously considering that move needs to spend 2-3 weeks in those places in the summer first.
Cold is more escapable to me than the heat. The argument of going from one A/C place to another applies to heated buildings as well. But outside, you can protect yourself with more clothes. In the heat, you can only strip down so far.
Living in Chicagoland, there are about 3-4 months of cold that are bad. The other 8-9 months are either okay, or downright nice. That said, I think partway better would be ideal. Maybe a place like Nashville, or Virginia, D.C., etc. You'd still get the 4 seasons but take some bite out of the winters.
The only thing I will say about the cold (unless its like below 10F) is that it's a little more comfortable in the sense you don't sweat and the sun doesn't wear you down. But for me it's everything else that comes with winter. It's not even the cold per say. It's the shorter days. The overcast gloomy days. When the snow turns gray and black and just looks so nasty.
I would say Chicago is more 5 months of cold. November to March are cold. Sometimes the last couple of weeks of October and the beginning of April can be cold too (not frigid) you are some years are looking at almost 6 months of colder weather. Some year if we are lucky it drops down to 4 months.
Threads like this tend to end in stalemates. This one will too.
In the end it is about what we prefer as individuals. Although it seems warm weather lovers tend to look down on people who don't agree. It's kind of like how extroverts don't understand introverts with the general idea that introverts need to be "converted".
Oh, and where I live cold months don't totally consist of gray days. There are plenty of days with crystal clear blue skies.
I don't think anyone is looking down on anyone. Everyone has opinions and preferences. It's more just banter on why some people hate the cold or some people the summer. I would think most posters on here could care less about the what another poster prefers.
I don' t live in the SE. I live in a major Mid-Atlantic city downtown. We are due for another heatwave by week's end and it will be oppressive with high temps at night with high humidity. We do not have the benefit of what you are talking about.
Well, the Mid-Atlantic will be even cooler than the SE during summer. And instead of sea breezes from the Gulf, you get then from the Atlantic. Trust me, you do benefit.
Quote:
Originally Posted by michael_atw
Also, the proclamation that 82 degree sea breezes may cool you down is silly - not to mention the east side of Florida is different in that regard from the west side; also not to mention the breezes ain't always blowing the way you want them to.
And not to mention that is it all about appreciation; the ocean, no matter what, is always cool in respect to the land, so sea breezes always help to cool things down.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lepoisson
I've been in Texas a few months and already hate the summer weather. You can't even check your mail without sweating.
Scraping ice off your windshield in Midwest during winter is sort of annoying, but at least I can function outside without feeling gross.
My favorite seasons are spring and fall. I'd love to find a place with 60-80 degrees all year long.
Another thing I've noticed is that cold climates usually seem to keep the trashy people away.
Inland Texas can get pretty hot during summer, but nights are cooler. Coastal Texas has more cloud cover, sea breeze, and summer thunderstorms to provide periodic relief.
You guys are 2 hours apart. Humidity burns off with afternoon heat, so CHI will most likely have the same numbers as Charlotte this afternoon. The difference here is that Chicago's temps are above normal, its a big heat wave. Thats NORMAL for Charlotte. Chicago's summers are far more comfy.
For me, I prefer this hot ass day in Chicago, over a 45F gloomy day in December. A lot more people outside doing things too in this weather. You would see like 1/2 the amount of people you see outside right now in January in Chicago.
Also this is not a heat wave nor a BIG heat wave for Chicago. Yes, it's above average but this is not considered a heat wave in Chicago by any means.....not sure where that heck you are getting that from.
You guys are 2 hours apart. Humidity burns off with afternoon heat, so CHI will most likely have the same numbers as Charlotte this afternoon. The difference here is that Chicago's temps are above normal, its a big heat wave. Thats NORMAL for Charlotte. Chicago's summers are far more comfy.
Actually, there is only a 1 hour difference in time. Also, anything above 90.1 is "above normal" for Charlotte in July.
Current conditions of Chicago vs Charlotte (where I live)
And Chicago is the one with near-60% humidity.....
Here's another interesting weather fact. Charlotte's all time record high is 104. Chicago's all time record high is 105. The record low for Charlotte is 5 below. Chicago's record low is 27 below. To be honest, much of the midwest see greater weather extremes than the southeast.
I lived in NC, then moved to IA and MO. I found the summer weather to be mostly similar. NC had more 90+ degree days than IA and MO.
For me, I prefer this hot ass day in Chicago, over a 45F gloomy day in December. A lot more people outside doing things too in this weather. You would see like 1/2 the amount of people you see outside right now in January in Chicago.
I've always wondered how many cities have higher pedestrian counts in January/February March than they do in June/July/August.
NYC doesn't bother collecting cycling counts for winter. You can still see somewhat of a trend in the data, however.
In May 2016, there were 12 days with no precipitation. The highest cyclist count was recorded on Wednesday, May 25th, with a recorded high temperature of 87.1 degrees. The lowest count occurred on May 5th, which had a recorded high of 57 degrees. Anything between the low 60s to high 80s has no real effect on cyclist counts.
April had chillier temperatures. Tuedsay, April 5th had a recorded high of 42.1 and a low of 26.1. That day easily had the lowest count of any clear day in April.
Felt Temperature Classification (Official US standards from Wikipedia)
100+ Extremely Hot
90-99 Very Hot
80-89 Hot
60-79 Pleasant/Warm
50-59 Mild
39-49 Cool
26-38 Cold
10-25 Very Cold
<10 Extremely Cold
So I think it isn't necessarily as clear cut. From reading that article, at least among those surveyed, 68% said that 85 or higher was too hot, and 90% agreed that 90 was too hot.
I think then, it all sorta depends on what question, and who exactly you are asking. When you frame it like: "would you rather it be cold or hot", I'm surprised that 29% even answered cold.
There are 323 MILLION people in the United States. Out of them, an unbelievable majority AREN'T living in places where there are consecutive months with 90+ degree temps, and I would even posit that a strong majority are living in a place where at least one month has an average high temperature of less than 60 degrees.
In many cases, people have a strong case of grass is greener syndrome. And, when they are living in a place that doesn't have those conditions, it is quite natural that they express a desire to go elsewhere. Also, there are some people that just prefer it on the hotter end of the spectrum.
I think the thing about walking from A/C to A/C is an extremely salient point also. I would say this: for short term exposure, 5 minutes or less or such, overly hot weather, while annoying, is not as much of a disturbance in the short term than overly cold weather. However, for an hour workout? I think many will tell you that some of their highest quality workouts come at 30ish degree temps, and that a hike or jog at that temperature, given the right clothing, can be downright invigorating, especially when finished with some quality coffee or hot chocolate. Meanwhile, an hour of running with a heat index anywhere above 90 can be downright demoralizing, not to mention posing significant risk of dehydration and such. And I can tell you, it doesn't cool down in the evenings here for the 4-5 month summer period. I was at a drive in movie near Tampa, and it didn't start until 10 at night, but I still needed to run the A/C in my car throughout the show, due to the fact that the heat index at that time was still in the mid 90s.
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