Lexington sunshine? (crime rates, tornado, living in)

[Mass Exodus]

We are interested in checking out the Lexington area on our next family roadtrip as we have heard wonderful things about it and are planning to relocate soon.

My question is, from looking at the city-data info, it appears that Lexington does not get a lot of sunshine relative to other southern or midwestern cities. Would living in Lexington be a problem for someone with seasonal affective disorder, who needs a lot of sunshine? Or does the rain come and go quickly? Do winters seem dreary in Lexington?

Thank you so much for your help!

[teebird1012]

I thought Lexington received plenty of sunshine. When it does rain or snow, it comes and goes fairly quickly. Occasionally will we receive three straight days of rain, but it's nothing like Seattle or Portland where it rains for one to two weeks straight. Compared to much of the midwest, Lexington does not get near as cold, winters average around 30 degrees.

[rnc76]

Originally Posted by Mass Exodus

We are interested in checking out the Lexington area on our next family roadtrip as we have heard wonderful things about it and are planning to relocate soon.

My question is, from looking at the city-data info, it appears that Lexington does not get a lot of sunshine relative to other southern or midwestern cities. Would living in Lexington be a problem for someone with seasonal affective disorder, who needs a lot of sunshine? Or does the rain come and go quickly? Do winters seem dreary in Lexington?

Thank you so much for your help!

I've seen a lot of other questions regarding that on this board. I've always thought of Kentucky and Lexington to be pretty sunny and I lived there for 3/4 of my life. I don't think it is any different than the deep south where I currently live. It is a LOT sunnier than the Northeast, where I lived for a few years.

[Mass Exodus]

..just what I was hoping to hear! If it's sunnier than Seattle and sunnier than the Northeast, where I live now, than it works for me.

Thank you!

[rnc76]

^^^I have always wondered what the criteria is for "sunny" days. KY gets a lot of partly cloudy days. It isn't that often that the skies are completely free of clouds, except in fall. Springtime is very nice, albeit a little rainy at times. Unlike MA (I'm assuming that is where you live), you actually have sunshine and decent temperatures. The springtime in MA was awful to me. 50 degrees and drizzling rain for seemingly weeks on end. It was like a swift kick in the butt after a long hard winter.

[censusdata]

Kentucky weather changes frequently. As a rule of thumb..

Winters will have cold weather for a couple of days, then a few seasonable days, then a few sunny days with highes in the 50s, even 60s.

Kentucky also has less problems with tornadoes than most states in the region.

From 1975 to Dec of 2007 KY had 18 tornado fatalities. By comparison...

TN had 118 tornado fatalities
GA had 87
IN had 55

These states also have MUCH higher crime rates than Kentucky
List of Tornado Fatalities by state since 1975

[sealuvr04]

Lexington's weather is mostly dreary. Winters seem to drag on and we rarely have snow but alot of rain. We get alot of rain in spring & winter. Summers are very hot, humid and seem very long.