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Old 11-09-2010, 10:31 AM
 
Location: USA East Coast
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ajn_australia_1988 View Post
Not sure if this question has been asked before, but do you find a cold climate or a hot climate easier to adjust too?

I'm not meaning here, just minor variations, such as between cool temperate and warm temperate climates, but a comparison of life living at the extremes, say a tropical climate/desert climate on the one hand and a cold continental climate (such as that experience in most of the North-East and Mid-West of the USA).

On the one hand, many say that a hot climate is easier to adjust to; it is generally assumed that the human body is most naturally suited to such a climate. I have also heard many Americans and Canadians complain about the sheer inconvenience of living in a cold climate, ie having to clear large amounts of snow away from the house during winter.


Here in Australia, almost all population centres have seasonal variations (January-July comparison, etc) of under 20C (36F), with most having less than a 15C (27F) variation. The experience of what it is like to live in a climate that gets extremely cold, snowy winters with warm, humid summers, is almost unknown here.
Just a few notes about the climate of the USA – since you may have never visited:

The old fashioned image of most Americans living in Chicago, NYC, Detroit/the northern half of the USA is a bit dated: Demographically half of the 50 largest cities/metro areas in the USA are in warm climates with modest seasonal variations in mean temperatures: Cities like San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles, San Diego, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Tucson, Corpus Christi, Houston, New Orleans, Atlanta, Myrtle Beach, Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa, Miami…etc are just as warm (if not warmer) in the winter than cities like Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, and Perth with similar seasonal extremes. So increasingly many Americans live in a climate with only modest seasonal change. Most of the USA cities listed above have seasonal variations (January-July comparison, etc) of less than 20C (36F).

In the northern USA where a temperate climate prevails…there are truly few areas that get “extremely cold and snow winters” and “very hot, humid summers” with regularity:

While places in the Intermountain West/Upper Midwest get very cold temps in winter (means temps 0 to 10 F/-12 to -18 C ) and frequent heavy snow (more than 100 inches on average)… summer in these locations are rather cool: The 90 F day is quite uncommon in places like North Dakota, Minnesota, Michigan, or Maine (they might occur 5 or 10 times a year on average). The reverse is also true in hot/humid summer places: While a city like NYC, Washington DC, or St. Louis has a long hot and humid summer….winter is often fleeting in these cities. An “extremely cold snow winter” does not adequately describe the average winter in NYC/St.Louis/Washington DC…as the daily highs in winter in these cities average over 40 F (5 C) - not quite what most people would think of as “extremely cold - lol. My point is that in the main…few places in the USA really experience the extremes with any sense of regularity. Places that regularly see hot tropical 90 F (32 C) temps in summer…don’t regularly see 20 F (-3 C) temps in winter...places that have average temps in winter than go below 20 F , won't have normal temps in the 90’s in summer. The northern USA has more extreme temps than Australia...but not that extreme - lol.

Since I have lived in locations with little seasonal variation (Miami) and large seasonal variation (Chicago)…I think it is easier to get used to less seasonal variation in temperature. However, the big problem in terms of sensible weather is that the same thing might become boring to some people.

.

Last edited by wavehunter007; 11-09-2010 at 10:46 AM..
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Old 11-09-2010, 10:49 AM
 
Location: Gatineau, Québec
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Another interesting tidbit is that during cold snaps in Canada, it is not uncommon for people who work with refrigerated vehicles (especially trucks) to go inside the refrigerated space to seek refuge and "warm up", since the air temperature outside can sometimes be colder than the fridge/freezer!
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Old 11-09-2010, 10:50 AM
nei nei won $500 in our forum's Most Engaging Poster Contest - Thirteenth Edition (Jan-Feb 2015). 

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Location: Western Massachusetts
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wavehunter007 View Post
An “extremely cold snow winter” does not adequately describe the average winter in NYC/St.Louis/Washington DC…as the daily highs in winter in these cities average over 40 F (5 C) - not quite what most people would think of as “extremely cold - lol.

.
Australians might as the coldest large city, Melbourne, has a high in the mid 50s in the rest of the country is usually in the 60s.
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Old 11-09-2010, 11:22 AM
 
Location: Gatineau, Québec
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ajn_australia_1988 View Post
Not sure if this question has been asked before, but do you find a cold climate or a hot climate easier to adjust too?

I'm not meaning here, just minor variations, such as between cool temperate and warm temperate climates, but a comparison of life living at the extremes, say a tropical climate/desert climate on the one hand and a cold continental climate (such as that experience in most of the North-East and Mid-West of the USA).

Particularly interested of course, to hear from those who have experienced both.

On the one hand, many say that a hot climate is easier to adjust to; it is generally assumed that the human body is most naturally suited to such a climate. I have also heard many Americans and Canadians complain about the sheer inconvenience of living in a cold climate, ie having to clear large amounts of snow away from the house during winter.

OTOH, others say that a hot climate is worse to adjust to; as the saying goes, in a cold climate you can always put another layer of clothing on but in a hot climate there is a limit to what you can take off.

As an Australian, who's never lived in North America, I've always thought it the idea of living in a place with a continental climate (such as New York City, Toronto, etc) would be 'interesting' (though not sure whether in a good way or a bad way). The sheer seasonal variation in temperature in what I would find interesting.

Here in Australia, almost all population centres have seasonal variations (January-July comparison, etc) of under 20C (36F), with most having less than a 15C (27F) variation. The experience of what it is like to live in a climate that gets extremely cold, snowy winters with warm, humid summers, is almost unknown here.
A good example of life in an extreme climate:

This past winter, my family wrapped up its cross-country ski season around March 10. (Skiing in the immediate vicinity of where we live. Not going away to the mountains or the hills or anything.)

Six weeks later, on May 1, we were swimming in our backyard pool (thanks to the pool being heated with a solar blanket) and it was about 25 C and remained around that or above for the rest of May and the summer of course.

Now, this past spring was especially mild but generally speaking we go from skiiing to swimming weather in roughly eight weeks here.
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Old 11-09-2010, 06:52 PM
 
Location: On the west side of the Tetons
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I live in an area that averages 500" of snow each winter and 25% humidity in the summer. Our last snowfall was on May 25th, 2009 and our first snowfall was on Sept. 1st, 2010. That is easy to deal with. I can't handle humidity and months of hot weather. I had to go to Michigan for a trade show this summer and the 80+ temps and 70%+ humidity was brutal. I can't imagine living in those conditions.
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Old 11-09-2010, 07:03 PM
 
Location: Iowa
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Interesting posts! I've traveled a great deal, and getting me through the heat, knowing it was temporary! Years ago, I was in Hawaii for over 3 wks. staying at the Navy base out at Barbers Point, and while it was great, would not want to do it on a permanent basis.
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Old 11-09-2010, 09:02 PM
 
Location: Rural South Australia
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wavehunter007 View Post
Just a few notes about the climate of the USA – since you may have never visited:
No, I haven't visited, so I find the information you posted very interesting and informative.



Quote:
The old fashioned image of most Americans living in Chicago, NYC, Detroit/the northern half of the USA is a bit dated: Demographically half of the 50 largest cities/metro areas in the USA are in warm climates with modest seasonal variations in mean temperatures: Cities like San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles, San Diego, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Tucson, Corpus Christi, Houston, New Orleans, Atlanta, Myrtle Beach, Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa, Miami…etc are just as warm (if not warmer) in the winter than cities like Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, and Perth with similar seasonal extremes. So increasingly many Americans live in a climate with only modest seasonal change.
I agree with you, that probably to people outside the USA there is a quite dated perception of the US population a being centred in the North-East and Mid-West of the US.

For instance if someone were to ask me or many non-Americans (I'm talking figuratively here) to 'pinpoint' the demographic centre (both in geographic, social and political terms) of the USA, we would likely point at any of the more urbanised areas of Ohio (possibly because its status as a bellwether seat in presidential elections gives us the idea that is the home of 'Middle America') as being this point.

Of course, I would assume it is nowadays somewhere to the south-west of Ohio.

Just out of interest does anybody know what the demographic centre of the USA is? This means the point at which (if we assume the US population is 310 million), on an East-West axis, 155 million people live to the West and 155 million people live to the East (and the same on a North-South axis).

I am aware that such an analysis can be done for urban centres, so I assume it can be done for nations too. It would be interesting to see how far to the South-West it has moved over the past 50 or 100 years.
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Old 11-09-2010, 09:14 PM
nei nei won $500 in our forum's Most Engaging Poster Contest - Thirteenth Edition (Jan-Feb 2015). 

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Location: Western Massachusetts
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ajn_australia_1988 View Post
No, I haven't visited, so I find the information you posted very interesting and informative.





I agree with you, that probably to people outside the USA there is a quite dated perception of the US population a being centred in the North-East and Mid-West of the US.

For instance if someone were to ask me or many non-Americans (I'm talking figuratively here) to 'pinpoint' the demographic centre (both in geographic, social and political terms) of the USA, we would likely point at any of the more urbanised areas of Ohio (possibly because its status as a bellwether seat in presidential elections gives us the idea that is the home of 'Middle America') as being this point.

Of course, I would assume it is nowadays somewhere to the south-west of Ohio.

Just out of interest does anybody know what the demographic centre of the USA is? This means the point at which (if we assume the US population is 310 million), on an East-West axis, 155 million people live to the West and 155 million people live to the East (and the same on a North-South axis).

I am aware that such an analysis can be done for urban centres, so I assume it can be done for nations too. It would be interesting to see how far to the South-West it has moved over the past 50 or 100 years.
http://www.census.gov/geo/www/cenpop/medianctr.pdf
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Old 11-09-2010, 09:50 PM
 
Location: New York City
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nei View Post
That's really cool.
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Old 11-10-2010, 12:24 PM
 
Location: Gatineau, Québec
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nei View Post
Still a lot more northern and eastern than I thought it would be.
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