Large Cities with Most Harsh Winters (snowfalls, records, warming, seasons)

[Tarastomsgirl]

well I'm not a large city but can I add here.

Keene , NH - month of December over 40 inches of snow 2 days ago -15 for most of the day...
Also New Sweden Maine- Month of December over 60inches of snow, 2 days ago -22

[KevK]

Chicago is not that windy. The nickname does not fit. The cities on the open plains are much more windy. When you combine all the elements of bad winters (temperature, wind chill, snow and ice), my list would go like this:

Minneapolis Minn
Madison Wisc
Milwaukee Wisc
Chicago Ill
Oklahoma City OK
Wichita KS
Omaha NE
St Louis Mo

[414Milwaukee]

There was a thing on the weather channel once they said the three coldest major cities are 1.Minniapolis, 2. Milwaukee, and i forgot the last one i think it was chicago im not 100% sure.

[Jammie]

Originally Posted by KevK

Chicago is not that windy. The nickname does not fit. The cities on the open plains are much more windy. When you combine all the elements of bad winters (temperature, wind chill, snow and ice), my list would go like this:

Minneapolis Minn
Madison Wisc
Milwaukee Wisc
Chicago Ill
Oklahoma City OK
Wichita KS
Omaha NE
St Louis Mo

Yea, some of them are pretty cold. But I think the only reason that OKC would fit into that category may be for ice storms. They actually don't have TOO bad of a climate there. Wyo., Mont. and the Dakotas have a much harsher climate then many of those cities. But they're states and we don't have any "big cities" here.

Yea, Chicago isn't really called "the windy city" because of their climate. It was named that because of their windy politicians long ago.

[Bydand]

Originally Posted by Tarastomsgirl

well I'm not a large city but can I add here.

Keene , NH - month of December over 40 inches of snow 2 days ago -15 for most of the day...
Also New Sweden Maine- Month of December over 60inches of snow, 2 days ago -22

Actually New Sweden got 54.4" of snow in December and it was actually -26 (Weather station is in Caribou and is ALWAYS warmer than it really is in New Sweden/ Stockholm area.)

For the season this area has got more snow than usual (Someplace around 90" I think) but it is FAR from one of the harshest areas in the winter. And it is far too small to be considered even a city, let alone a large city. When people ask why I don't mind the winters up here I just tell them the truth. It is warmer and has less snow than what I grew up with. I grew up in Northern Michigan and the UP can spank anyplace in Maine for cold and snow.

[Bydand]

Just looking at a book "Extreme Weather - A Guide and Record Book" by: Christopher C. Burt. One of the pages lists the coldest cities in the US by average annual temps and also coldest average January temp from 1970 to 2000. Fairbanks, Alaska tops both of those lists. Average annual temp: 26.7; average January temp: -19.

[Steve_W]

Originally Posted by Jammie

Yea, some of them are pretty cold. But I think the only reason that OKC would fit into that category may be for ice storms. They actually don't have TOO bad of a climate there. Wyo., Mont. and the Dakotas have a much harsher climate then many of those cities. But they're states and we don't have any "big cities" here.

Yea, Chicago isn't really called "the windy city" because of their climate. It was named that because of their windy politicians long ago.

You're right.
OKC isn't bad at all. There is actually certain species of palms that can grow in OKC's climate.

[Katiana]

Albany NY is not *that* bad, either, compared to the midwest.

[KevK]

Originally Posted by Jammie

Yea, some of them are pretty cold. But I think the only reason that OKC would fit into that category may be for ice storms. They actually don't have TOO bad of a climate there. Wyo., Mont. and the Dakotas have a much harsher climate then many of those cities. But they're states and we don't have any "big cities" here.

Yea, Chicago isn't really called "the windy city" because of their climate. It was named that because of their windy politicians long ago.

Oklahoma City and Wichita are very windy which amplifies the cold. I would rather deal with 15 degrees and no wind than 30 and lots of wind.

[KevK]

Originally Posted by Bydand

Just looking at a book "Extreme Weather - A Guide and Record Book" by: Christopher C. Burt. One of the pages lists the coldest cities in the US by average annual temps and also coldest average January temp from 1970 to 2000. Fairbanks, Alaska tops both of those lists. Average annual temp: 26.7; average January temp: -19.

Most of forget about Alaska because it is a "sorta state".