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I live in Rochester NY and love the weather. Sure the winters are cold but I find that 10 mouths out of the year are very enjoyable minus Feb and March. April-June are are mixed with nice cool days and spring like weather. July-mid sept are nice and warm. Late sept - mid nov are nice fall days. Late nov- late January are nice winter days filled with snow.
I'm born and raised in GA. Give me upstate NY weather over heat and humidity any day.
If Philly can do it, Houston can do it. Many days this summer in Philly had highs in the mid 90s with high humidity. Several days had a heat index of over 100. During the worst heat wave, Weather Underground had the South Philly location with a heat index of 128. I have the screenshot on my phone to prove it.
So yeah, if Philly can have mid 90s and near 100 with high humidity, Houston easily can. Obviously that's not every single day, but it happens much more often the further south you go.
You are correct. I've lived in both cities and can assure you that Philly summers are a walk in the park compared with Houston's.
As a kid who grew up in SC and lived the last 7 years in Minneapolis, the best answer for me is you get used to it. The majority of winter in Minnesota isn't spent with wind chills that low. The only time the rest of the country pays attention to the area is when a large winter storm comes thru. Without a doubt most of winter is cold but its quite tolerable with the proper clothing (down jacket, gloves, scarf, hat), so much so that even a South Carolina Sandlapper could manage it. The worst months are usually late Dec, Jan, and Feb. People there embrace winter. Its a part of the culture and its celebrated with many festivals (outdoor), winter sports, and other activities.
As stated earlier the worst part of winter is the darkness. I found adapting to the cold easier than anticipated, it was the darkness that wears on you. I was so happy each year when Dec 21 hit because I knew the sun was making a comeback!
The area largely grew to its size with the help of big agriculture, the mills that feed the nation breakfast every morning, and all of the fortune 500s in the metro. The strong economy begat the strong and stable growth.
It's bad for like 6-12 weeks depending on the year and your definition of 'bad'. Some winters we have 60 inches of snow. The last few we barely had any. Some years we get several weeks where temps are below 20. Some years it rarely hits negative.
This morning - first snow. 2 inches, wet and sticky. My daughters built snowmen. My dog ran through the woods eating snow and rolling around like she was on drugs. I shoveled then helped put carrots on snowmen for their noses.
Basically Jan-Feb are the real bad months. Dec and March can range from decent to tolerable. April and November you can play golf, mow your lawn, fish and play outside.
The most difficult part is the darkness. It gets dark in the winter months around 4:30 PM. Many people commute to and from work in low light or darkness. If you completely resettled the US tomorrow and there was no existing infrastructure, workforce, corporate jobs or family ties, it would be highly unlikely to have a metro area of more than 3 million in Minnesota. Yet by most objective metrics the Twin Cities and Minnesota in general are some of the best places to live in the country.
I grew up here and believe that dealing with winter weather and snow and learning how to deal with both heat and extreme cold challenge me and strengthen me at least a bit. I went to Europe in January in college and spent three days in Stockholm in January and I could enjoy the city because I wasn't paralyzed by the temperatures. I've also spent weeks in Phoenix in the summertime and lived part of my life in central Arizona. I would honestly say our winters are just as inconvenient as a Phoenix or Houston or Miami summer.
LMAO the weather in Minneapolis is not bad for only 6-12 weeks.
Also just wondering why you think a winter in MN is just as inconvenient as a summer in Phoenix/Houston/or Miami? While it might feel uncomfortable there is nothing SUPER inconvenient about a hot summer. You don't have to cancel school, traffic doesn't back up, you don't have to shovel snow, you also don't have to worry about power outages, damage, or being isolated due to harsh climates,ect. My aunt and her family moved to Phoenix and I've been to Florida in the summer. I honestly even think a Boston winter is more inconvenient than a southwestern summer. I'm sorry but I'd take a summer in AZ/TX/or FLA over a MN winter any day of the year....a lot of ppl would. I guess that's why there are so many midwesterners who have moved to Phoenix and Texas.
For me personally, worse would be Portland, Seattle, and New Orleans. The constant damp/dreary/cloudy climate of the PNW would be depressing. Though heat and humidity generally doesn't bother me, it's just a bit too overwhelming in the NO area. Climate wise, the rest of the country I could handle with no problem.
For me personally, worse would be Portland, Seattle, and New Orleans. The constant damp/dreary/cloudy climate of the PNW would be depressing. Though heat and humidity generally doesn't bother me, it's just a bit too overwhelming in the NO area. Climate wise, the rest of the country I could handle with no problem.
New Orleans isn't going to be much different than the rest of the coastal Southern US, though.
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