Rate the Climate: Duluth, MN (snowy, hot, temperature, city)

[ben86]

Originally Posted by nei

A Kentucky congressman in the 1800s described its climate as "delightful". Do you agree? A quote from his speech:

Now, I have always been under the impression, as I presume other gentlemen have, that in the region around Lake Superior it was cold enough for at least nine months in the year to freeze the smoke-stack off a locomotive. But I see it represented on this map that Duluth is situated exactly halfway between the latitudes of Paris and Venice, so that gentlemen who have inhaled the exhilarating airs of the one or basked in the golden sunlight of the other may see at a glance that Duluth must be a place of untold delights, a terrestrial paradise, fanned by the balmy zephyrs of an eternal spring, clothed in the gorgeous sheen of ever-blooming flowers.


Do you agree?

Climate Data:

Duluth, Minnesota - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Full speech can be found at:

Duluth!

Hah, I love flowery 19th-century prose! I'd give the summers an A but more than three sub-zero months = F and this place has five of those, so D overall. The balmy ever-blooming sub-subtropical 46N climate that congressman was thinking of is perhaps to be found here: La Rochelle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[RWood]

D+ (credit for moderate amount of sun).

[ilovemycomputer90]

A

Excellent climate. Cold and snowy winters and pleasant summers.

[nei]

Originally Posted by Weatherfan2

He was a bit of an idiot. F.

Originally Posted by SophieLL

How can that be delightful? Is he a polar bear?

It was sarcasm. Might be hard to tell, especially with the 19th century language and if you're not a native english speaker.

[Weatherfan2]

Originally Posted by nei

It was sarcasm. Might be hard to tell, especially with the 19th century language and if you're not a native english speaker.

Yep well they always said sarcasm was the lowest form of wit. Still right about that one

[Nivalis]

The nickname "The Air-Conditioned City" is given to Duluth because of the summertime cooling effect of Lake Superior.

Sounds good to me! A-, the minus is because the winters are cooler than ideal.

[Rozenn]

I hesitated bewteen B and C. Went for B. B- in fact, its winters are way too cold. Otherwise nice climate with a healthy dose of variation.

[Candle]

A++.

Enough variation to be enjoyable. Perfect amount of snowfall too and a nice and moderate amount of summer precipitation.

[tvdxer]

I rate it a "D" and I live here. In fact, I've already done this poll. You can see the old results here:

Rate the Climate: Duluth, MN

From my perspective, summers (July and August, and parts of June and September) are nice, but that's it. Winters are abysmal. There's only so much cold that one can take, and the cold that Duluth dishes out is far above most people's tolerance level. When you're realize that the climate consists of about one month of continuous below-freezing temperatures, day and night, four or five months of wet, cold feet from all the snow melting in your shoes, or those awful -10F HIGH temperatures that we often get once or twice every winter, you have a whole new perspective on things.

And it becomes so much worse when you realize that there's usually NO RELIEF from it all until April or May. Most other "cold" continental climates get a few 50F or even 60F days interspersed throughout the winter months; in Duluth, they're extremely rare. Barring last February, when we had a high of 53F in the middle of the month, 32F/0C is considered a "warm" winter temperature here, and it almost never gets above about 40F/4C in December, January, or February. Even in March, days in the 20's and 30's F are most common than days in the 40's or 50's F, at least until the end of the month.

Springs (April, May, and most of June) aren't that much better, either. In May and June, the dominant wind is off Lake Superior. This means while the rest of Minnesota is in the 70s, 80s, or 90s with plenty of sunshine, Duluth remains in the 40s and 50s with cloudy skies.

The only really beautiful months in Duluth are July and August.

[dunno what to put here]

Wow, perfect almost, even the summers are comfortable! A- from me, fantastic!!