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I didn't realise that so much of the US had frigid winters. According to that map, you can't really espace it until you are very near the Gulf Coast. I thought our January lows were cold at 37F but they're actually warmer than about 90% of the US.
The dismal winter cloudiness in the UK/Eire and all the more northern European latitudes is far more important to me than sub-40F/5C lows. You can't remove clouds by turning on a device. I once spent a winter in Chicago when studying there - the November was not particularly cold but it was dreary, with only 32% of possible sun. December and January were not that much better, but February had 65%, well worth some pretty cold lows. I had no problem with my preference.
Sydney probably gets off light compared with Toronto.
This July we've had dewpoints from 19-24 C for nearly two weeks straight.
We had 5 day stretches where the dewpoint never dropped below 20 C and seldom below 21 C,
with highs ranging from 25-29 C during these humid conditions.
28 C with 70-79% humidity (dewpoint 22-23 C) was common.
I recall Sydney never has high humidity (above 50%) when it's 30+ C,
and the only times I think I saw 70+% humidity recorded, it was 26 C or less.
I can recall a NZ exile in Sydney complaining on a forum that it was "very humid" on the day it hit 45C or thereabouts a few years back. On checking the figures, it turned out that the dewpoint near the time of the temperature peak was the lowest afternoon value for the month.
The dismal winter cloudiness in the UK/Eire and all the more northern European latitudes is far more important to me than sub-40F/5C lows. You can't remove clouds by turning on a device. I once spent a winter in Chicago when studying there - the November was not particularly cold but it was dreary, with only 32% of possible sun. December and January were not that much better, but February had 65%, well worth some pretty cold lows. I had no problem with my preference.
Toronto has both; more winter cloud than NZ's winters and contintental cold.
Chicago is just "lucky" being southwest of the Great Lakes with a predominant "westerly" wind pattern.
Toronto has both; more winter cloud than NZ's winters and contintental cold.
Chicago is just "lucky" being southwest of the Great Lakes with a predominant "westerly" wind pattern.
You still get more sunshine than any part of the UK.
You still get more sunshine than any part of the UK.
True, generally speaking.
Nov-Mar, if we reach 45% chance of sun for a whole month, it feels amazing.
Most of the winter, some point in the day is below -5 C.
We also get slightly longer days in winter due to lower latitude.
I'm not sure which is worse...
Many times I'm watching Coronation Street,
envious seeing episodes they say are in winter and you can't even see their breath outside.
And that's supposed to be set in northern England.
True, generally speaking.
Nov-Mar, if we reach 45% chance of sun for a whole month, it feels amazing.
Most of the winter, some point in the day is below -5 C.
We also get slightly longer days in winter due to lower latitude.
I'm not sure which is worse...
Many times I'm watching Coronation Street,
envious seeing episodes they say are in winter and you can't even see their breath outside.
And that's supposed to be set in northern England.
1971-2000 averages: "England North" - 200 hours for Nov+Dec+Jan+Feb, 217 at Manchester airport.
Sydney's July-August is far sunnier than it is anywhere in NZ, even allowing for more daylight. But I would be looking elsewhere in Oz in Jan-Feb.
I can vouch for that having spent considerable time living and working in ChCh and Wgtn .
Last July was my first July in Sydney and we had a very sunny month. This year it has been the other extreme (to an extent).
I am sure this question has been posed before, but if arbitrarily I had the flexibility to live/work in each of the six state capitals throughout the year, with two month's allocation in each, I would allocate my year as follows:
Jan, Feb: Melbourne
Mar, Apr: Adelaide
May, Jun: Hobart
Jul, Aug: Brisbane
Sep, Oct: Sydney
Nov, Dec: Perth
Not sure this is at all optimal, but trying to maximise my sunshine/warmth.
Hobart was a tricky one to place. Melbourne averages around 9 hours/day in Jan so it seemed sensible to place it there. Sydney and Brisbane fare better in low rain/high sun later in the year. Perth does well for most months of the year except their winters.
Without wishing to start/reignite another thread here, feedback welcome (and bring to the table your subjective views as well).
Kiwis can maybe suggest a similar scenario for NZ. Feel free to choose six major centres. My choices would be Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin
The sunniest parts of the UK on the central south coast get between 1900-2000 hours of sun on average. London gets 1630 hours and parts of the Scottish Highlands can get less than 1000.
Here's a picture I found on Flickr, taken in Central London in February. A fairly typical scene.
The dismal winter cloudiness in the UK/Eire and all the more northern European latitudes is far more important to me than sub-40F/5C lows. You can't remove clouds by turning on a device. I once spent a winter in Chicago when studying there - the November was not particularly cold but it was dreary, with only 32% of possible sun. December and January were not that much better, but February had 65%, well worth some pretty cold lows. I had no problem with my preference.
Have to agree with the bolded comment.
I care more about sunshine than temperatures. For me it is about the warming effect of sun on skin, and also the fact it brightens up colours etc - that can be very uplifting.
Grey depresses me - even if it is 20C I would trade that for full sun and 15C.
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