Winter Diurnal Preference (climate, hot, warm, records)

[Joe90]

Someone at a job recently, remarked that they preferred winters where they grew up (Hanover Germany), because they didn't have so much rapid cooling.
He felt that there were too many winter days here where the temperature dropped quickly from about 3.00-4.00 pm, and that a lower diurnal range in winter was what most people prefer. I disagreed.

What do you think?

[Weatherfan2]

The milder the better, so for me, more consistent temps with smaller diurnal range and temps between 8-12 degrees C is ideal (in my ideal climate)

One pleasing thing about the UK climate is that it has very mild winters for its latitude and the temp doesn't drop off to minus stupid degrees at night, thanks to the humidity off the surrounding seas.

[Joe90]

A more straight forward way of putting this question is: would you find a range of -2C/28F - 3C/36F (Hanover) or 1C/34F - 13C/56F (here) more unpleasant?

It was the rapid cooling rather than the actual temperature he didn't like. To be fair his house was at a location where the range could be 1 or 2 degrees greater than the 1-13C I posted for here.

[Weatherfan2]

Originally Posted by Joe90

A more straight forward way of putting this question is: would you find a range of -2C/28F - 3C/36F (Hanover) or 1C/34F - 13C/56F (here) more unpleasant?

It was the rapid cooling rather than the actual temperature he didn't like. To be fair his house was at a location where the range could be 1 or 2 degrees greater than the 1-13C I posted for here.

In that case, the latter is better for me, but it hasn't got nearly as much to do with the diurnal range than that the temperature is milder.

[dxiweodwo]

I like lower diurnal differences. I can't tell you how many times when I lived in North GA I would go out early in the morning and it would be around 30F, ride around for a couple of hours, and in a matter of 2 hours the temp is already up to 48-50F. It's kind of irritating. And for those of you that don't know the upper south region of the US has high diurnal differences during winter, and a day with a high of 56F and a low of 25F is not unusual. I would much rather have slow daytime heating.

[ben86]

Last winter here we went very nearly four months without a single diurnal range above 10C, perhaps among the longest such stretches any major city with a non-equatorial climate could realistically get (though you'd probably have to go back a long way in our records to find any longer run). I remember being in Belgium in February 2008 and getting a week of unusual diurnal ranges like -6/15 in 100% sunny, 10-20% humid air with no wind. It felt pretty novel and the brightness at that time of year is always welcome, but in practical terms being out all day how do you dress for it? 15C and sunny in the strongest sunshine you've seen for four months is shorts weather for me, but -6 first thing in the morning needs multiple layers, gloves, hat etc. Also if you're indoors at work/school etc for hours at a time and come out to a temperature completely different to what you had when you went in it's a bit irritating.

[ilovemycomputer90]

Originally Posted by ben86

Last winter here we went very nearly four months without a single diurnal range above 10C, perhaps among the longest such stretches any major city with a non-equatorial climate could realistically get (though you'd probably have to go back a long way in our records to find any longer run). I remember being in Belgium in February 2008 and getting a week of unusual diurnal ranges like -6/15 in 100% sunny, 10-20% humid air with no wind. It felt pretty novel and the brightness at that time of year is always welcome, but in practical terms being out all day how do you dress for it? 15C and sunny in the strongest sunshine you've seen for four months is shorts weather for me, but -6 first thing in the morning needs multiple layers, gloves, hat etc. Also if you're indoors at work/school etc for hours at a time and come out to a temperature completely different to what you had when you went in it's a bit irritating.

Agreed. We get can get pretty wide diurnal ranges during the fall. It could be in the 30s in the morning, but in the 70s during the afternoon. 70s with a strong sun and clear sky feels almost hot after such a cold morning.

[susancruzs]

Have not given it much thought, I guess. Fast changes could be a nuisance! I'm trying to figure how our 70's day is turning to 40's overnight. I'll believe it when it actually happens, last night I had to get up to open windows as the upstairs wasn't cool enough.

[Nivalis]

Originally Posted by dxiweodwo

I like lower diurnal differences. I can't tell you how many times when I lived in North GA I would go out early in the morning and it would be around 30F, ride around for a couple of hours, and in a matter of 2 hours the temp is already up to 48-50F. It's kind of irritating. And for those of you that don't know the upper south region of the US has high diurnal differences during winter, and a day with a high of 56F and a low of 25F is not unusual. I would much rather have slow daytime heating.

I agree. I don't like taking off layers because the temperature is constantly warming up. I prefer my winters to stay cold all day long.

[Lamplight]

We have a wider range here, and sometimes I don't like it. For example, in Spring and Fall here, it can be in the 30s in the morning and still hit 70 or even 80 in the afternoon. I find that rather annoying as I have to remove layers as the day goes by, and store all the extra clothes somewhere until I'm home. And it could actually be a problem if you dress in the afternoon for whatever reason and forget to take along extra clothes for when it gets cool as the evening falls. But overall, it's not a huge deal as long as you know what to expect.