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After living in that area ( Southern Wisconsin and Northern Illinois) for eight years, I must admit I rated it a solid F. Very hot and humid summers, far too rainy during the springtime, cloudy autumns with piercingly cold winds, and the worst; long frigid miserable winters with strong arctic winds coming from the northwest, short days, and shoveling ice and snow from the sidewalks and other places. I must admit I was extremely unhappy living there and finally decided to relocate to Southern California ( which gets an solid A by the way) .
In November of 1913 the Great Lakes were struck by a massive storm system combining whiteout blizzard conditions and hurricane force winds. The storm lasted for four days, during which the region endured 90 mile per hour winds and waves reaching 35 feet in height. With only basic technology available, shipping communication and weather prediction systems were not prepared for a storm of such devastating force. When the skies finally cleared, the Great Lakes had seen a dozen major shipwrecks, an estimated 250 lives lost, and more than $5 million in damages (the equivalent of more than $117 million today).
Nicknamed the “White Hurricane” and the ‘Freshwater Fury” the 1913 storm remains the most devastating natural disaster to ever strike the Great Lakes. One hundred years later, NOAA commemorates the Storm of 1913 not only for the pivotal role it plays in the history of the Great Lakes but also for its enduring influence. Modern systems of shipping communication, weather prediction, and storm preparedness have all been fundamentally shaped by the events of November 1913
November and December would bother me the most as they look cloudy in addition to being cool.
January and February are cold but I'd take freezing temps, snow and decent sunshine anytime over milder higher-latitude gloom (UK etc.)
Summers look very nice albeit a little wet.
Definitely not the worst climate there is, and far superior to London and maybe even Paris.
The winters average doesn't tell the whole story. The temperature swings are wilder if you are used to something on the East Coast or west coast, mediteranean or marine winter. The problem is the wilder fluctuations both in cold and wind. Shouldn't look at averages when dealing with such a continental climate, but actual days hitting an X low amount and an X wind speed. So seeing even a 5 degree difference "30 year average" in one city to the next can be way different when you look at it by day.
2 random cities...
scenario of a winter average of 37 in a colder but coastal moderated climate
a) 33, 36, 38, 40, 38, 39, 37, 36, 38, 40 ... continues staying consistent, occasionally will get a big snow fall, but usually not much snow.
vs
winter average of 30 in a more fluctuating continental climate
15, 11, 5, 10, 20, 44, 61, 66, 41, 25 then back down again...maybe a week consistent like city a) from time to time, but back to wild fluctuations with an arctic blast, lots of little snow falls.
for me, city a) is much easier to manage, even if on paper it only looks like a 7 degree difference of "average" temp...in reality you can get hit with several more brutal days...
The winters average doesn't tell the whole story. The temperature swings are wilder if you are used to something on the East Coast or west coast... The problem is the wilder fluctuations both in cold and wind. Shouldn't look at averages when dealing with such a continental climate, but actual days hitting an X low amount and an X wind speed.
all the same latitude. Chicago is the most variable overall, but the Amherst station has slightly more variable winter low temperatures, and a colder average. Amherst averages slightly more subzero nights and freezing nights (10 nights < 0°F, 150 nights < 32°F for Amherst, 7.5 nights < 0°F, 118 nights < 32°F for Chicago, 1nights < 0°F, 97 nights < 32°F for Boston)
I wonder if there is more of a fluctuation at O'hare w/ winds and low temps coming in from the NW... I usually use their reading instead as I find it closer to the Northside Neigbhorhood temps. It can often be snowing where I am but not snowing at Midway for example as it just clips the north half of the metro. Right now for instance it's 27 vs 30 at Midway. I also know most of the western and northern burbs (bigger population areas) are noticeably colder.
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