Is summer and winter in St. Louis that horrible? (Berkeley: houses, tornado)

[glamatomic]

When I first moved to St. Louis, someone told me "if you don't like the weather, wait two minutes, it'll change!"

It's so true though. If the weather is 'horrible' it's usually not for long. Actually I never recall the weather being 'horrible' by my standards.

Hot and Cold are different things to different people. Although I'll agree that dry heat is more tolerable, I don't like the way dry heat makes my skin feel- and it makes my hair go too flat!

[tofuluvr]

I know that the heat will be the biggest change for me, but I'll get used to it. However, for me, the humidity will make my hair super frizz. Lol! People of St Louis, don't be scared of the newcomer with frizzy hair!!

[glamatomic]

tofuluvr: Don't worry the humidity makes mine go frizzy too (what's worse? Flat or Frizzy? Both are pretty bad in my opinion!) But anyhow- the right shampoo in Summer usually seems to help, there's a lot of decent anti-frizz formulas out there (I use Tre Semme something or other- it's not tested on animals) so at least that's a low maintenance savior!

[hodgemo2]

I don't mind the winter, but I HATE the summer. And IMO, St. Louis summers last from about early/mid May (sometimes even starting in April) through the end of September. October is usually nice, then November starts the winter. The winter usually lasts until about the beginning of March, and March and April are often two nice spring months.

This past run of seasons has been unusual, but we're starting to get back up into the horrible 90s.

[MUTGR]

Originally Posted by hodgemo2

I don't mind the winter, but I HATE the summer. And IMO, St. Louis summers last from about early/mid May (sometimes even starting in April) through the end of September. October is usually nice, then November starts the winter. The winter usually lasts until about the beginning of March, and March and April are often two nice spring months.

This past run of seasons has been unusual, but we're starting to get back up into the horrible 90s.

I would respectfully suggest that although September in St. Louis is usually warm, sometimes even hot, the humidity usually begans to drop, making at least the last half or so of September typically much nicer than July or August, even if the temps reach up into the 80's or even around 90.

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by hodgemo2

I don't mind the winter, but I HATE the summer. And IMO, St. Louis summers last from about early/mid May (sometimes even starting in April) through the end of September. October is usually nice, then November starts the winter. The winter usually lasts until about the beginning of March, and March and April are often two nice spring months.

This past run of seasons has been unusual, but we're starting to get back up into the horrible 90s.

Agree completely. And it seems even hotter in the city with all the cement and bricks.

The other two things to watch for are the hail storms some summers and the ice storms in the winter (but less snow than most Midwestern cities).

[stlouisan]

St. Louis' winters are what I'd call moderate...while often cold and snowy, as many have said, it's not on the level of the Upper Midwest...more like KC, Indy, Cincy, and Columbus. Average snowfall is around 20 inches. It can get downright frigid though in January...the temperatures swing back and forth like crazy. Deep freezes are rare. In the summer, the humidity is pretty bad, but it's not even close to anything like a summer in Texas.

The Lower Midwest, and some parts of the Central Midwest, have hot and humid summers. Omaha, Des Moines, KC, STL, Indy, and Cincy all are pretty hot and humid in the summer, though obviously the first two have what I'd call severe winters.

Bottomline is that winter and summer are both experienced in their fullest in STL. This city gets all four seasons.

[GraniteStater]

Anytime the dewpoint goes above 60F that is too humid overall. Needless to say I hated the heat and humidity of KC and when I visited STL during the summer. As mentioned, the urban heat island effect makes things far worse in the summer for the more urban locales of both cities. Lows in those areas don't often drop below 75-80F for long stretches. Even with a good AC that is truly awful.

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by stlouisan

St. Louis' winters are what I'd call moderate...while often cold and snowy, as many have said, it's not on the level of the Upper Midwest...more like KC, Indy, Cincy, and Columbus. Average snowfall is around 20 inches. It can get downright frigid though in January...the temperatures swing back and forth like crazy. Deep freezes are rare. In the summer, the humidity is pretty bad, but it's not even close to anything like a summer in Texas.

The Lower Midwest, and some parts of the Central Midwest, have hot and humid summers. Omaha, Des Moines, KC, STL, Indy, and Cincy all are pretty hot and humid in the summer, though obviously the first two have what I'd call severe winters.

Bottomline is that winter and summer are both experienced in their fullest in STL. This city gets all four seasons.

The best summer weather in the Midwest is Eagle River, WI and the Northwoods. Highs in the 70s and lows in the 40s. At an elevation above 1600ft it doesn't "usually" get long stretches of heat.

[stlouisan]

Originally Posted by jlawrence01

Agree completely. And it seems even hotter in the city with all the cement and bricks.

The other two things to watch for are the hail storms some summers and the ice storms in the winter (but less snow than most Midwestern cities).

Most is true, although STL's average snowfall is only a bit less than KC, Cincy, Indy, and Columbus. And it does get more snowfall than places further south in Southern Indiana, Southern Illinois, and Southern Missouri.

Historically, STL used to get much more severe winters. 200 years ago I think the Mississippi froze over pretty frequently every winter...snowfall was much higher too. Winters can get bad with snowfall...30 inches of snow or more is far from unheard of here. There was also the winters of 1978 and 1982, plus that massive snowstorm that just barely missed us but clobbered the rest of Missouri.

A bad summer on average is more common than a bad winter, but both happen fairly often.