winter in Minneapolis (how much, landlord, statistics)

[Susie, Hudson, WI]

I have lived in Minnesota all my life. I would love to move to warmer climate - somewhere where there is no snow and no below zero weather with even colder wind chills. I opened my door this morning to pick up the newspaper laying right there.
It was so windy and so cold that the newspaper needed to be warmed up before trying to read it. I'm not kidding. I guess I am just getting older and my old bones will not put
up with another Minnesota winter. Either that or I will be housebound for at least three months every winter. Frankly, I've had enough.

[JenLee]

Originally Posted by youngurbanprofessional

You may hate the sun in the summers in the south, but in minnesota, you may not see the sun for months.

This statement isn't true at all. It may be cloudy here for up to about 2 weeks straight; but the sun shines a lot here in the wintertime. My family room, study, and bedroom all have lovely south-facing windows and my lazy dog follows the sun through the day picking the sunniest spots to sleep in all day long. My hubby is retired and gets quite a kick out of watching the dog snoozing in the sunshine.

[AQUEMINI331]

Originally Posted by K-Luv

The actual air temperature in Minneapolis will be colder then what you will find in Chicago, but personally I think that a Chicago winter is more miserable. Chicago has more wind-chill, the lake effect, and all of that concrete.

Well the concrete actually produces an urban heat island heat effect that helps us retain what little heat there is in the wintertime, so that's a benefit. But we also have tons of skyscrapers that create an "urban canyon" and combined with the wind blowing off of the lake, create a wind tunnel effect. Wind blowing off of Lake Michigan can't blow freely over Chicago because the skyscrapers obstruct it. So the wind is forced to blow in between the skyscrapers (i.e. the city streets) as it's the only open space downtown right off of the lake. So ALL of the wind blowing off of the lake is forced onto city streets, making Chicago artificially windier than what it would otherwise be. This of course, makes the city feel much colder in the wintertime.


When you factor in the wind chill (the only thing that really matters anyway), Chicago may very well be a colder city than Minneapolis. I'm just going off of raw temperatures. I would guess that Minneapolis could get pretty windy as well - it does sit on the prairie. But I've never lived up there so I can't speak for sure.


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[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by AQUEMINI331

When you factor in the wind chill (the only thing that really matters anyway), Chicago may very well be a colder city than Minneapolis. I'm just going off of raw temperatures. I would guess that Minneapolis could get pretty windy as well - it does sit on the prairie. But I've never lived up there so I can't speak for sure.

The Twin Cities metro is actually located in a fairly hilly/wooded area where two fairly large rivers (the Mississippi River and Minnesota River) meet, so wind isn't much of an issue except for places up on the MN River Valley bluffs or other similar places. It's not like Buffalo Ridge down by Marshall.

[Sharolu3]

There is a a lot of truth about our weather. Minnesotans take weather reports VERY serious. I have been caught in blizzards 3 times in my life where I feared for my life. You need to know how to dress for the weather. We do. By the time it gets to be January we get a lot of Sun heat and it can be quite comfortable out even on a cold day. The other strange thing is you body adjusts to the cold so you get used to it. It is absolutely true that we are out in all kinds of weather.Streets are cleard very quickly and snow simply doesnt stop us. You must learn however to move your car to the right side of the street for snow removal or you will be towed and fined. As far aqs car maintenance I was at the garage today and someone had put water in the windshield wiper fluid and was paying a large bill to have it thawed. You can also have pipe freeze ups in your home. In short, you have to learn how to live here, I would imagine, or you will not like it despite its beauty.

[moving123456]

Originally Posted by Sharolu3

You can also have pipe freeze ups in your home.

I have never had a pipe freeze or even known anyone that has had a pipe freeze in their home in MN. Most homes in MN have their water pipes in a heated basement. I don't see how they would freeze as long as the heat is turned on. Outside the home they are far enough underground to not freeze.

This must happen on very old homes without basements, where the pipes run under the home in an unheated space. Maybe trailer homes too.

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by moving123456

I have never had a pipe freeze or even known anyone that has had a pipe freeze in their home in MN. Most homes in MN have their water pipes in a heated basement. I don't see how they would freeze as long as the heat is turned on. Outside the home they are far enough underground to not freeze.

This must happen on very old homes without basements, where the pipes run under the home in an unheated space. Maybe trailer homes too.

It can happen and does frequently in new and old homes, usually when plumbing is run in exterior walls. I know of people that have forgotten to turn off their outside faucets and had pipes burst inside too. Even in a heated basement there may be rooms that aren't all that warm or people with unfinished basements close the heat off and pipes freeze.

[JenLee]

My neighbor didn't realize when he bought his house that the door to his water pipe closet (where the pipes entered his home) had to be open in the winter. His pipes froze and burst; he had a huge mess.

Our previous home had a (heated) tuck-under garage, and we were in constant fear of those pipes freezing (after it happened our first winter there) so left the bathroom faucet on (a slow drip) until we found the heated pipe tape to wrap the pipes with.

It IS indeed a problem that does happen here in MN unless you're lucky or someone took steps to prevent it along the way.

[youngurbanprofessional]

Originally Posted by JenLee

This statement isn't true at all. It may be cloudy here for up to about 2 weeks straight; but the sun shines a lot here in the wintertime. My family room, study, and bedroom all have lovely south-facing windows and my lazy dog follows the sun through the day picking the sunniest spots to sleep in all day long. My hubby is retired and gets quite a kick out of watching the dog snoozing in the sunshine.

This true at all. Sunshine is not a common occurrence in the winter.

[JenLee]

Originally Posted by youngurbanprofessional

This true at all. Sunshine is not a common occurrence in the winter.

Here is the data about Minneapolis weather from Weatherbase:
Weatherbase: Historical Weather for Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States of America

If you scroll down to the 8th numerical graph, it says the possibility of sunshine (for 55 years on record) lists that Minneapolis has a 58% possibility of sunshine year round; and Oct. averages 55% sunshine, Nov. only 39%, Dec. 42%, Jan. 53%, Feb. 59%; etc. with November and December being the ONLY 2 months that have less than a 50% possibility of sunshine.

If you read the 9th, 10th and 11th graphs there, they list the average number of clear, cloudy and partly cloudy days; partly cloudy means that there is also some sunshine on those days.

I did some comparisons with Chicago while I was over at that site; I found it interesting how similar the 2 cities' weather seems to be except that Minneapolis has records for 50+ years whereas Chicago records only seem to go back 37 years at the most. I found that to be rather interesting.