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Okay on the internet I see people talking about different temperatures on chat rooms all the time. People saying stuff like 68F/20C is chilly while another person saying that same very temperature is a bit warm. Being on a weather forum here I noticed lots of swings as well and the weather people preferred. One guy from Arizona I know told me that the summers where I live(Houston, Texas) are pathetic to him and that 95F is not hot to him at all and he even claims he doesn't have the AC on at the temperature(He lives in Lake Havasu City). He claims that being in Arizona made him resistant to any hot temperatures and that he deals with 120F all the time. Another guy I know from Canada is basically the Arizona's guy opposite. He literally laughs at Chicago's winter temps saying that they are pathetically cold and not truly cold(His climate is about 5C/9F colder than Chicago's during January and within 3C/5.4F in December). He does claim to go out in just below freezing weather in t-shirts and jeans and that his Canadian race makes him better to equip to handle extreme temps.
On the other hand I know people that can't handle either extreme at all and burn when it is above room temperature and shiver at just below room temperature or so.
Though all of these people claim they were born that way. Is acclimatization real or is weather preferences based more on individuals?
I think it’s just personal preference. I hate temperatures over 25C which happens without fail every year where I live. June this year was really bad but July and August were better. Iam going to need AC if it keeps on like this. I’d rather it was -25C, but it has never been that cold since records began in 1973. Soon as it doesn’t get that cold I’d rather have AC than central heating if I could only have one. As for clothing I normally take off winter Woolies at 6C, my coat at 11C and wear shorts at 16C. Soon as that’s quite a steep gradient I can sometimes be wrapped up one day and wear shorts a few days later. Also I’m quite weird because if the temperature is only 10C but forecast to rise to 16C, I’ll wear a coat and shorts, so later on I can take off the coat. It’s weird feeling the temperature change outside and getting boiling in your coat.
^^^ This AND some people are sick, or taking meds that make them more sensitive to certain temperatures.
I personally HATE heat and love cold. (see my location )
I'm mostly heat intolerant. I would probably collapse after 20 minutes under the sun if the temps are around 36C. I cannot stand heat. Cold is bad too, but it's still far more tolerable.
Of course. Thyroid activity plays a large role here but is not the only factor.
I have always been resistant to cold and intolerant of heat. As a baby, I used to kick off all the clothes my mom would try to put on me. My comfortable range is 0 C to 15 C.
I don't see much evidence for acclimatization -- at least in me. I've lived in Utah all my life. We get quite hot summers and quite cold winters. I can't remember a time when I didn't hate the cold. I never can get used to it, even though I've lived through 69 winters here. Summers, on the other hand, are pure heaven for me. Sure, there are times when it gets "too hot," but even then, I never wish for winter to come. And from the time the temperature drops below 60, I'm counting the days until spring. Cold hurts. There is no other way to put it, and dressing for it simply doesn't work for me.
I think that there are some people who it might be inherent but they seem to be a minority.
While I was on a temporary company transfer to Phoenix for 2 weeks, I met an individual who had been born/raised there and had never lived anywhere except for Phoenix but he was very intolerant to heat! He was with the same company I was with so started asking questions about the office in Detroit. When an opening came up 5 months later, he transferred up to my office in Detroit and he was just happy as could be. He was walking around in t-shirts in 60 F weather and thought that it was great it was cold in the winter. He must have been one of those people who inherently was more suited for a cold climate because most of the Phoenix people who visited Detroit in fall or winter just hated it, lol.
I've also known a couple of people in Upstate NY who would shiver the minute it got down below 70 F and they moved down South and pretty much immediately were OK with heat over 85F.
Most people though I think it is a matter of where you were raised and of course we all can acclimate to some extent. After living in the South I was a bit more heat tolerant than prior to living in the South but still absolutely hate being out in weather over 80F. The difference now is that I can sit in the shade in 100 F weather and not pass out after a few hours, LOL
I am happiest in outdoor temperatures between 25F-70F. Indoors, I like the temperature around 66F-70F.
We all have our individual tolerances based on health, age, where we grew up, etc
I can agree with you on where people spend the majority of their lives, however, I must say that I must be a southern person at heart, because even though I live in the Indianapolis area now, I have Always been more tolerant of extreme heat than I have ever been of extreme cold, I much prefer extended spells of 90-100 Degree weather over any lengthy periods of bitter cold, the winter of 2013-2014 was the 8th coldest winter on modern record in Indianapolis, and that winter just about exhausted my patience and my tolerance for extended bouts of extreme cold, I honestly hope that climate change Truely means that winters will be warmer than the historic average in Indianapolis because if it doesn’t, I will soon be relocating back down South. I was born in the Deep South(New Orleans), but, as I was only there for the first year of my life, I don’t remember much about the winter weather patterns there, all I can say is that even as a kid, I really didn’t enjoy the cold weather, even with snow as the trade off.
Speaking of tolerating... I just washed my car with air temp of 35°F (1.6C). No gloves and sleeves rolled up. Air temp wasn't the hard part, it was ringing out the sponge and Chamois.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Neptunepenguins
Is acclimatization real or is weather preferences based more on individuals?
Both are true. I acclimate and I have my own personal preference. I don't tolerate 55°F in winter but that adjusts to 85°F in Summer.
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