What's it like to live in a place with a very continental climate? (snowfall, hot)

[Nichle]

As someone who has lived in an oceanic climate all my life, I'm curious as to what it would like to live in a place with drastic differences between the seasons.

I can (somewhat) imagine the temperatures themselves, but I'm more curious as to how the transitional seasons feel and what the impact on human behaviour is like, especially if you've lived in a distinctly different climate for comparison. Do people seem to treasure summer a lot more than they would in a milder place? Is there a distinct sense of say, melancholy in autumn?

I'm sure there's a good number of you from such places in North America, but has anyone lived for at least year in any of the hyper-continental places in Asia like Yakutsk or Turpan?

[lommaren]

Originally Posted by Nichle

As someone who has lived in an oceanic climate all my life, I'm curious as to what it would like to live in a place with drastic differences between the seasons.

I can (somewhat) imagine the temperatures themselves, but I'm more curious as to how the transitional seasons feel and what the impact on human behaviour is like, especially if you've lived in a distinctly different climate for comparison. Do people seem to treasure summer a lot more than they would in a milder place? Is there a distinct sense of say, melancholy in autumn?

I'm sure there's a good number of you from such places in North America, but has anyone lived for at least year in any of the hyper-continental places in Asia like Yakutsk or Turpan?

With a 22 C difference between summer and winter days here, define drastic?

Here transitional seasons seem more like slow and inevitable. Winter kickback may happen as late as April, but generally speaking March can see average temps ranging from -5 C to + 6 C depending on year. Having said that, I live in a transitional climate influenced in some ways by the sea. Seasons are roughly equal in length and persistent lows below -15 C and persistent highs above 30 C are rare. So it is not that continental in that sense!

[Isleofpalms85]

I can attest to the realities of living in a highly continental climate; Highs here are barely above freezing during the coldest time of the year(Which for Indianapolis is generally mid to late January), average high temperatures bottom out in the middle 30's Fahrenheit during this time of year(dead of winter in Indianapolis) and average lows are around 20 degrees Fahrenheit during this same time period; to add insult to injury, Average extreme low temperatures during the winter usually are 0 degrees Fahrenheit or colder an average of about 4 or 5 nights a winter, in all probability an extreme shock to the system for someone like you by the way, and even though extreme minimum temperatures rarely go below -23 Degrees Celsius(below -10 degrees Fahrenheit), such temperatures will typically occur at least once a decade. Springs start off with highs in the mid to upper 40's in March before warming into average highs in the upper 70's Fahrenheit by late May. Average highs typically peak with average highs in the mid 80's Fahrenheit and average lows in the mid 60's Fahrenheit in mid July; Temperatures after that(the average anyways) remain fairly steady until late August or early September, after that average high temperatures go from averaging near 80F in early September to highs only in the upper 30'sF by late December. As for other factors, mid to late fall do kind of bring a sense of melancholy here and springs and summers through early fall most likely are more treasured here than in more temperate climates.

[springsux]

Good question.

I guess the best answer is that the temperature transition feels much more potent in spring/autumn compared to summer and winter. Also where I live the transition isn't exactly smooth - so it can cause migraines/headaches or health issues as the weather goes from 70f to 50 to 40, shot back up to 75 again... and now it's back down to 40 again. Summer and winter have more consistent temperatures.... and I prefer it that way. But w/global warming winters have been mild in a ****ty and boring way (too many days in the 40s where they are supposed to be in the 30s- and 40F degree weather is by far the most boring and ****tiest) and summers have been waaaay too hot and sticky.

I'd say you feel the transitional seasons much more- and then when summer or winter rolls around the temperatures have been steadily decreasing/increasing at a jagged yet fixed pace so you just kind of expect them at that point. And four seasons is very nice, but there is still a sweet spot they need to fall under as to not totally bore or disappoint you to death.

[springsux]

Also Snow... there is something downright magical about snow- especially the first snowfall of the year. It's peaceful and quiet.

But with the RETARDED AND STUPID 40f degree temps often we will juuuuuust miss the conditions for snowfall. And then when it does fall- it falls like a big clunky turd in the middle of January two times in the year and that time it isn't like the magical good snow you see in hallmark commercials. Then it's hard and crappy and 'oh god I don't wanna shovel again' type of snow. The Holidays are over- wtf is this ****.

But if it snows in the magical, right way- you wonder why anybody would live in Florida or whatever. That nice light dusting on the ground or when it's soft enough to play in and sled. ahhh. Instead of the turd snow.