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Are you talking about Barrow, AK or Minneapolis? I highly doubt it is as cold as you're making out to be. The average high in April in Minneapolis is near 60 degrees. I don't doubt there'll be snowy days in April but you're telling me sub-zero days will still persist that late? Doubt it. I've always kept a tab on how the weather is in Minneapolis, since I've been planning to move there. When I see that they do get below zero, it's generally only for a week, then it's back to normal. The average high in the winter months is only in the 20s. That seems pretty doable to me.
Now don't get me wrong, I know it'll get cold, I know it'll get downright frigid but come on, I know you're exaggerating. I have relatives that moved to the Midwest from Florida and yea they got to below zero sometimes but they said it wasn't that bad and usually it was regular cold, not arctic cold like you're making it out to be.
I guarantee you, that Texas sees far more triple digit days in summer than Minnesota does in winter. Hell, I've been in walk in freezes at different places I've worked, and I can handle that for longer time than even a minute in front of a hot stove. And that's just talking controlled indoor environments. I can handle indoor cold and outdoor cold better than indoor heat or outdoor heat.
I'd love to say I was exaggerating! Ultimately, I think the best way to experience winter there is to find out for yourself. Minneapolis is uniquely situated in such a way that it receives dry, Arctic currents that are often in excess of what you might find even in certain parts of AK or even neighboring cities like Chicago. As mentioned, I grew up in the Minneapolis area from 1996 til around 2013, so had the chance to experience my fair share of winter weather there.
In Minnesota, it's no single factor that makes the winter so frigid, it's the combination of cold actual air temperatures, combined with a high wind chill factor and low humidity that make conditions feel much more frigid than they 'actually' may be. A single-digit degree day, for example, in New York is going to feel a lot different from a single-digit degree clear, sunny day in downtown Minneapolis with 20MPH winds hitting you straight on while you walk to work. I've had the pleasure (not sure if that's the right word to call it?) of experiencing Winter in several Midwestern cities (Minneapolis, Chicago, Milwaukee, Ann Arbor and Cleveland) and by far Minneapolis is the most 'extreme' - though Milwaukee is a close second, due to proximity.
Again, preparedness is your best friend - warm, wind resistant outerwear will go a long way. If it really drops, your car may have trouble starting - be sure to stock up on the decent oil and keep it indoors if at all possible. Minneapolis traditionally doesn't have a lot of snow acccumulation during the winter (there are always exceptions) but you do see a lot of the dry, powdery snow mid-winter blowing around. Black ice is a hazard which can quickly occur when cars idle in cold temperatures at a stop light or sign. You may be already familiar with ice storms living in Texas - many people suggest keeping an emergency kit in your car with flashlights, blankets and food in case you become stranded in hazardous temperatures.
The best suggestion I can have is to find some good backup indoor activities that you can do throughout the winter if you end up not liking being outside in the cold. If you can manage that without getting cabin fever, you will probably enjoy the Northern Experience.
I'd love to say I was exaggerating! Ultimately, I think the best way to experience winter there is to find out for yourself. Minneapolis is uniquely situated in such a way that it receives dry, Arctic currents that are often in excess of what you might find even in certain parts of AK or even neighboring cities like Chicago. As mentioned, I grew up in the Minneapolis area from 1996 til around 2013, so had the chance to experience my fair share of winter weather there.
In Minnesota, it's no single factor that makes the winter so frigid, it's the combination of cold actual air temperatures, combined with a high wind chill factor and low humidity that make conditions feel much more frigid than they 'actually' may be. A single-digit degree day, for example, in New York is going to feel a lot different from a single-digit degree clear, sunny day in downtown Minneapolis with 20MPH winds hitting you straight on while you walk to work. I've had the pleasure (not sure if that's the right word to call it?) of experiencing Winter in several Midwestern cities (Minneapolis, Chicago, Milwaukee, Ann Arbor and Cleveland) and by far Minneapolis is the most 'extreme' - though Milwaukee is a close second, due to proximity.
Again, preparedness is your best friend - warm, wind resistant outerwear will go a long way. If it really drops, your car may have trouble starting - be sure to stock up on the decent oil and keep it indoors if at all possible. Minneapolis traditionally doesn't have a lot of snow acccumulation during the winter (there are always exceptions) but you do see a lot of the dry, powdery snow mid-winter blowing around. Black ice is a hazard which can quickly occur when cars idle in cold temperatures at a stop light or sign. You may be already familiar with ice storms living in Texas - many people suggest keeping an emergency kit in your car with flashlights, blankets and food in case you become stranded in hazardous temperatures.
The best suggestion I can have is to find some good backup indoor activities that you can do throughout the winter if you end up not liking being outside in the cold. If you can manage that without getting cabin fever, you will probably enjoy the Northern Experience.
This is a joke, right?
Anyone who says the dry cold of Minnesota is more frigid than the damp cold of a coastal city is clueless. I lived in New Jersey for 5 years and 20 degrees there is colder than a sunny, dry 20 degree day in Minnesota.
And the temperatures you cited in your prior post are just laughably wrong.
The only reason I bolded the above section for emphasis is that you might be in for a somewhat unpleasant suprise. Assuming you're operating on a Farenheit scale and 'occasional below 0' means less than 32 degrees, you are going to experience that consistently from October - May. If you mean a drop below literal 0 degrees Farenheit, that can be expected consistently between November and April, at the least.
So that you don't have a bad experience, expect to deal with temperatures that will be consistently in the double-digits below zero and wind chills far beyond that starting in late Dec. Wind chills can be expected in the -10 to -40 degree range, actual air temperatures somewhere in the single-digit negatives to -15 or even -20. If that sounds acceptable for several months then you should have no problem at all with Minneapolis. However, dress warm and when the windchills are bad, you'll want to stay off the lakes and indoors, to avoid frost bite.
What????? I typically go bicycling outside from Mid-March thru November most years and I'm no fan of the cold, so I must be missing something here.
I'd love to say I was exaggerating! Ultimately, I think the best way to experience winter there is to find out for yourself. Minneapolis is uniquely situated in such a way that it receives dry, Arctic currents that are often in excess of what you might find even in certain parts of AK or even neighboring cities like Chicago. As mentioned, I grew up in the Minneapolis area from 1996 til around 2013, so had the chance to experience my fair share of winter weather there.
In Minnesota, it's no single factor that makes the winter so frigid, it's the combination of cold actual air temperatures, combined with a high wind chill factor and low humidity that make conditions feel much more frigid than they 'actually' may be. A single-digit degree day, for example, in New York is going to feel a lot different from a single-digit degree clear, sunny day in downtown Minneapolis with 20MPH winds hitting you straight on while you walk to work. I've had the pleasure (not sure if that's the right word to call it?) of experiencing Winter in several Midwestern cities (Minneapolis, Chicago, Milwaukee, Ann Arbor and Cleveland) and by far Minneapolis is the most 'extreme' - though Milwaukee is a close second, due to proximity.
Again, preparedness is your best friend - warm, wind resistant outerwear will go a long way. If it really drops, your car may have trouble starting - be sure to stock up on the decent oil and keep it indoors if at all possible. Minneapolis traditionally doesn't have a lot of snow acccumulation during the winter (there are always exceptions) but you do see a lot of the dry, powdery snow mid-winter blowing around. Black ice is a hazard which can quickly occur when cars idle in cold temperatures at a stop light or sign. You may be already familiar with ice storms living in Texas - many people suggest keeping an emergency kit in your car with flashlights, blankets and food in case you become stranded in hazardous temperatures.
The best suggestion I can have is to find some good backup indoor activities that you can do throughout the winter if you end up not liking being outside in the cold. If you can manage that without getting cabin fever, you will probably enjoy the Northern Experience.
Again, pretty sure you're exaggerating. Also, dry anything, cold or heat, feels more comfortable than humid.
I don't doubt it's cold, I don't doubt the windchill. I've experienced ice and snow storms in Texas, and enjoyed them. (In the dead of summer, many people wish for cold winter days to return Sure the reverse is common up there..) What I do doubt though, is what you're saying that it's below zero regularly from November to April. Nowhere at the altitude and latitude of Minnesota, is going to experience regular occurences of below zero for that long, and still average highs in the 80s in summer. Just did some research, says average lows for November range from 31 to 21. That's hardly brutal. Sure it's chillier than most people's Novembers but not by a whole lot. Then the average lows for April range from 28 to 40. Where is the brutal frigid cold you're talking about that lasts from late fall to mid spring?
People tend to exaggerate weather based on their own bias. Some people who hate heat might claim that a Texas summer is "100 degrees from April to October" which is by far a huge exaggeration, especially for north Texas. We may REACH 100 degrees a few days on those off months some years, but it's not normal. The same way people who dislike the cold exaggerate it up north. I like to read pure facts with no bias. I haven't spent a winter in MN yet but unless these numbers are wrong, it doesn't seem close to as cold as you're making it out to be. I don't disagree January is cold but don't try to tell me April is exactly the same.
No doubt the Twin cities are quite a bit colder than other large cities in the lower 48... but most Minnesotans up north chuckle at the idea that Minneapolis is a cold place.
No doubt the Twin cities are quite a bit colder than other large cities in the lower 48... but most Minnesotans up north chuckle at the idea that Minneapolis is a cold place.
I saw it reached 60 degrees last February in Minneapolis. And I remember in December 2014 when I was still in Miami, it was like 50 degrees in Miami and 54 in Minneapolis. A day where Miami is colder than Minneapolis in the winter, now that's a RARE thing!
I saw it reached 60 degrees last February in Minneapolis. And I remember in December 2014 when I was still in Miami, it was like 50 degrees in Miami and 54 in Minneapolis. A day where Miami is colder than Minneapolis in the winter, now that's a RARE thing!
Born and raised in MN ... There are many winter days when I do not even wear a winter jacket to work or while running errands. I will toss on a flannel lined windbreaker or a zip up sweatshirt and off I go. I find 20 degree days can be very pleasant, especially if the sun is shining. The worst, coldest, most frigid days are those days when it is cloudy and damp and windy. That's when I wear my winter jacket. Otherwise, a light weight outer covering is just fine for me in the winter.
Vladlensky was exaggerating quite a lot, but then we had already figured that out!
most days in winter, I won't even put shoes on...just walk around in my socks
Outside?
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I typically go bicycling outside from Mid-March thru November most years and I'm no fan of the cold, so I must be missing something here.
Sure the reverse is common up there..) What I do doubt though, is what you're saying that it's below zero regularly from November to April. Nowhere at the altitude and latitude of Minnesota, is going to experience regular occurences of below zero for that long, and still average highs in the 80s in summer. Just did some research, says average lows for November range from 31 to 21. That's hardly brutal. Sure it's chillier than most people's Novembers but not by a whole lot. Then the average lows for April range from 28 to 40. Where is the brutal frigid cold you're talking about that lasts from late fall to mid spring?
