Was set on moving to Milwaukee from STL, but now I'm unsure...

[EnjoyEP]

One quick note here -

I do fear we are here painting St. Louis like it is Miami.

St. Louis *does* get snowfall - some years a ton of it. Some years, virtually nothing. But I would say that for all of the snowfall that St. Louis does get, if longtime residents feel the removal is far inferior to MKE's, then likely it is.

Here is a good source - from the NOAA - it provides snowfall totals for every year in St. Louis since 1884, and gives the total average since 1884.

St. Louis, according to this, *averages* (at least since 1884) a total of 18.6 inches of snowfall annually. Which, surely is, a medium-level and not terribly much (Milwaukee averages about 49). However, again, it isn't exactly Myrtle Beach in terms of snowfall either.

Check it out:

St. Louis, MO Annual Snowfall Since 1884

Note that in '93, St. Louis picked up 33 inches, and in '90, nearly 30 inches.

However, in '01 it picked up a scant next-to-nothing Tucson-esque 2.5 inches and in '04 only 6 inches.

So it is quite variable in St. Louis, and due to the much more temperate winter temperatures, the snow that does fall in St. Louie disappears generally much quicker than it does up here in cold Milwaukee.

[Milwaukee City]

Also highway drivers are super SLOW up there and the streets had way more pot holes obviously. In STL it's not uncommon to drive 70-80 on highways but in MKE I rarely seen anyone drive over 65.

my biggest pet peeve other than the poor lighting in Milwaukee, i do 65-70 at least. if your being passed on the right move over!!!!!!!!!!

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by EnjoyEP

So it is quite variable in St. Louis, and due to the much more temperate winter temperatures, the snow that does fall in St. Louie disappears generally much quicker than it does up here in cold Milwaukee.

In general, I never worried much about snow in St. Louis. However, the ice storms around that area are worse than any snow storm I ever experienced in Chicago, Cleveland or Detroit.

Good observations.

[Fishtacos]

Originally Posted by EnjoyEP

One quick note here -

I do fear we are here painting St. Louis like it is Miami.

St. Louis *does* get snowfall - some years a ton of it. Some years, virtually nothing. But I would say that for all of the snowfall that St. Louis does get, if longtime residents feel the removal is far inferior to MKE's, then likely it is.

Here is a good source - from the NOAA - it provides snowfall totals for every year in St. Louis since 1884, and gives the total average since 1884.

St. Louis, according to this, *averages* (at least since 1884) a total of 18.6 inches of snowfall annually. Which, surely is, a medium-level and not terribly much (Milwaukee averages about 49). However, again, it isn't exactly Myrtle Beach in terms of snowfall either.

Check it out:

St. Louis, MO Annual Snowfall Since 1884

Note that in '93, St. Louis picked up 33 inches, and in '90, nearly 30 inches.

However, in '01 it picked up a scant next-to-nothing Tucson-esque 2.5 inches and in '04 only 6 inches.

So it is quite variable in St. Louis, and due to the much more temperate winter temperatures, the snow that does fall in St. Louie disappears generally much quicker than it does up here in cold Milwaukee.

I don't think anyone was comparing St. Louis to Miami. As someone who has spent a lot of years in both places, I can attest to the following:

St. Louis has four equal seasons to all extremes. By this I mean all four seasons are roughly in equal length, and St. Louis gets all extremes, heat, cold, rain, snow etc...

Milwaukee by comparison imo is more of a 3 season place by feel. Milwaukee also gets all of the extremes.

Now, it gets hotter in temp, and more humid in St. Louis. It is sunnier overall in St. Louis, it is not as frigid cold in St. Louis and not as long, and the wind is the single biggest difference imo. It is also not uncomon for temps to be 25 degrees warmer in St. Louis on the same day as Milwaukee on occasion. Note, I said occasionally not every day nor all the time.

If people are seeking a mild, warm winter place, St. Louis is not that place. If people are seeking a place with less wind, but still cold, not super frigid temps for long, St. Louis is that place. St. Louis is much more likely to get an ice storm than Milwaukee by a long shot.

One of the things about St. Louis weather is that when it does snow, even if it is a lot, it won't last long, because temps are much more variable in St. Louis on a daily basis and it will melt quickly within days often times.

People say in WI, wait a minute the weather will change, ....well, multiple that by a lot and you have St. Louis. It can be 40 degrees different within a day in St. Louis. T-storms are much more volatile in Stl as well.

Personally I would not clasify Milwaukee, nor St. Louis as what I would call good weather places. But that depends on your definition of good.

So, Milwaukee's winters are more harsh, but Stl gets 3 months of winter.

It does indeed snow in St. Louis, but nowhere near as much as Milwaukee and when it does it is gone usually within a day or two whereas in Milwaukee because of less variance in temps, it stays for much longer periods.

I've known many people who left St. Louis because they thought it was too cold, too cloudy. I've known others that have found it too warm, too humid. I have known some people who have moved to Miami, Houston, etc....because they no longer wanted to deal with St. Louis winters. So, all things are relative.

The best times to visit St. Louis for weather if you like pleasant mild sunny days, are May, June, Sept, October. July and August are hot and humid, April is hit and miss with rain, and March is hit and miss with wide temp variance. November is considered cooler, but Wisconsinites would would consider it very nice. Dec, Jan, Feb is winter.

And yes, snow removal generally speaking is far better in Milwaukee than St. Louis, that is not a myth. And yes, St. Louis gets its share of pot-holes too, but nothing to the lengths and extremes of Milwaukee. So again, St. Louis gets all four seasons, just shorter in length and more variance.

[JFC5]

I have lived in St. Louis and Milwaukee. You'll be amazed at the amount of snow that falls but you won't miss the ice storms at all. The major streets and highways are plowed really well. The side streets not so much. Soon you will be laughing when you talk to people back home and they are complaining about 2 inches of snow!
There are so many things to do in Wisconsin, especially downtown. The lakefront is great and nothing like Laclede's Landing. Don't let the amount of snowfall scare you, I'd take snow over ice anyday.