Weather or Not (Minneapolis: houses, to live in, stats)

[Minervah]

Sometime in the future I want to move to another State. Minneapolis is high on the list but I worry about the weather. I understand summers get very humid and I am not very tolerant of humidity.

Right now I live in Portland OR and the weather here is mostly damp and rainy. It has begun to affect my lungs. My doc says it would be good to move to a drier climate. I used to live in Chicago and I remember the summers being humid but the winters were pretty dry. I don't mind cold but am not overly fond of extreme heat. It is the humidity that concerns me the most though.

I want to leave Portland for a variety of reasons and have asked some questions on this forum before. Minneapolis has a lot of what I am looking for but the weather?

Can I have some input on this? Thanks a whole lot for your time.

[K-Luv]

If you do not like humidity, then I don't know what to tell you--you probably will not enjoy Minneapolis, then. Some summers are not as bad as others, though, and the humidity is not exactly a daily occurrence. Generally, the humidity will build up over a couple of days until it reaches a 'breaking' point. The breaking point (which is rather unpleasant, mind you) may hold for a couple of days then out of no-where it will rain. Sometimes it will rain for a few minutes, but it usually is a good drenching complete with thunder and lightning--a pretty awesome summer thunderstorm that occurs many times over the summer. After it rains, and often times during, the temperature drops dramatically-at least it feels like it-then there is a day or two of nice weather and the pattern starts all over again until maybe the end of September.

[Prple]

Do most houses come with AC? Is it necesary? AC is uncommon in most houses in the Seattle because it is only need a couple days/year.

[golfgal]

I would say that 99% of the houses have AC. The majority of a normal summer is 85° and warmer.

Another thing to think about is that winter can be humid as well. Most people don't notice it because of the cold but if you have lung issues you will most definitely notice it. I think you would probably be better off in the SW then up in MN if you have lung issues.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by Prple

Do most houses come with AC? Is it necesary? AC is uncommon in most houses in the Seattle because it is only need a couple days/year.

Summers in the Twin Cities are not that different from summers down here in Atlanta in terms of temperature or humidity.

However, the summer is a lot SHORTER in Minnesota than it is down here in Georgia (days in the high 80's and 90's tend to be limited to July and August up there, while we're already coming close to 80 degrees down here in Atlanta and that will continue into September or sometimes October).

I wouldn't live up there without A/C, though.

[mnmarty03]

If you have lung problems, then MN might not be for you. If I had to guess, I'd say we are drier than WA...though I have no stats, so don't quote me on that. Winters are dry in my opinion.... like someone else said the SW is probably better for your lungs.

[Astron1000]

For half the year, Minneapolis/St.Paul has relatively low humidity compared to most of the country. (Crikey, the WORST winter chill I've ever had was in Boston! It's really bad when you have cold temperatures and relatively high humidity. AT least in Minneapolis/St.Paul the air is dry!)

Yes, summers can be humid. As is a lot of the US.

But I'd say that you've never experienced drier air than MSP in January. And that fact makes the coldest temperatures tolerable.

Maybe the ideal - if humidity is the deciding factor - you should spend 6 winter months in MSP, and 6 summer months in Phoenix!

[Minervah]

Originally Posted by Astron1000

For half the year, Minneapolis/St.Paul has relatively low humidity compared to most of the country. (Crikey, the WORST winter chill I've ever had was in Boston! It's really bad when you have cold temperatures and relatively high humidity. AT least in Minneapolis/St.Paul the air is dry!)

Yes, summers can be humid. As is a lot of the US.

But I'd say that you've never experienced drier air than MSP in January. And that fact makes the coldest temperatures tolerable.

Maybe the ideal - if humidity is the deciding factor - you should spend 6 winter months in MSP, and 6 summer months in Phoenix!

I've spent time in Phoenix and it isn't for me really. I think maybe the best comparison I can think of to get an idea about the humidity is to compare it to Chicago where I used to live before I moved to Portland. The Chicago summers were very humid but air conditioning helped and also the idea that fall, winter and spring were always bearable. In Portland we only have a few months in the summer to dry out from the constant rain and dampness.

Can anybody compare Chicago summers to Minneapolis? In the end I will probably try not to consider weather a major factor. MN just has so much of what I am looking for.

[kuan]

Supposed to snow here friday.

[MNBill]

I would say Minnesota is nowhere near as humid as Portland or Seattle. I looked on weather dot com, and the averages show that our wettest months of the year are June-July-August, with about 4 inches of rain per month. But that rain comes in fits and starts, some summers it can be weeks between rain, then a 2-3 inch T-storm comes through and the temp lowers as does the humidity. The humidity is NOT constant even in the mid summer, I'd say the worst years, it lasts about a week straight before there is a break. Avg hi/lo temps according to weather channel are: May 68/47, June 78/57, July 82/62, Aug 80/60. But weather here is rarely average on any given day (like today!!)