Winters in Wisconsin compared to Northern Minnesota? (Milwaukee, Luck: school, live in)

[noxxle]

I am planning on moving to Milwaukee next fall and attending Marquette for grad school. Anyone from N. Minnesota here? I can't imagine winter in Milwaukee could be worse than it is in Minnesota. In what respects are they similar/different?

[GreggB]

Originally Posted by noxxle

I am planning on moving to Milwaukee next fall and attending Marquette for grad school. Anyone from N. Minnesota here? I can't imagine winter in Milwaukee could be worse than it is in Minnesota. In what respects are they similar/different?

It won't be any colder-Lake Michigan helps to keep Milwaukee a little mildier in the winter. Average high temps in January around 25-30 degrees. Generally speaking, southeastern Wisconsin should be a little easier on you as compared to Northern Minnesota. Never The Less, Understand that Wisconsin is not known for it's "Mild" winters!! Good Luck to you!!!! I'm originally from Milwaukee!!

[DaninEGF]

Originally Posted by noxxle

I am planning on moving to Milwaukee next fall and attending Marquette for grad school. Anyone from N. Minnesota here? I can't imagine winter in Milwaukee could be worse than it is in Minnesota. In what respects are they similar/different?

Hi....
I live in East Grand Forks MN and work as a meterologist at the National Weather Service in Grand Forks ND. The Midwest Climate Center is an excellent data source for normal temperatures/precipitation for any number of cities in midwest. http://mcc.sws.uiuc.edu/climate_midw...summaries.htm#

Now....dont know specifically where you live....but took Brainerd MN as an example for northern MN.....and compared normal temperatures/snowfall to that at Milwaukee (official data taken at the airport). Now, these are normals over a 30 year period.....and each winter can bring much different weather than respresented in the numbers below. But averaged out over 30 year period this is what the data shows....


Station: 210643 BRAINERD MN
1971-2000 NCDC Normals temperatures and snowfall

element JAN /FEB /MAR /APR / MAY/ JUN / JUL/ AUG/ SEP/ OCT/ NOV /DEC
Max °F 18.5 / 26.0/ 37.5/ 54.0/ 68.6/ 76.5/ 81.0/ 78.8/ 68.8/ 56.2/ 37.4/ 23.3
Min °F -7.5 / -1.0/ 13.6/ 29.3/ 42.3/ 51.4/ 56.2/ 53.4/ 42.4/ 31.4/ 17.7/ 1.9

element JAN /FEB/MAR/APR/MAY/JUN/JUL/AUG/SEP/OCT/NOV/DEC/ yearly avg
Snow(in) 13.0 /6.7 /9.6/ 2.1/ 0.0/ 0.0/ 0.0/ 0.0/ 0.0/ 0.5/ 6.7/ 8.2/ 46.8


For Milwaukee (Mitchell Airport)
Normal temperatures and snowfall

element JAN / FEB / MAR / APR / MAY / JUN / JUL / AUG / SEP / OCT/ NOV / DEC
Max °F 28.0 / 32.5/ 42.6/ 53.9/ 66.0/ 76.3/ 81.1/ 79.1/ 71.9/ 60.2/ 45.7/ 33.1
Min °F 13.4 / 18.3/ 27.3/ 36.4/ 46.2/ 56.3/ 62.9/ 62.1/ 54.1/ 42.6/ 31.0/ 19.4

element JAN / FEB / MAR/ APR/ MAY/ JUN/ JUL/ AUG/ SEP/ OCT/ NOV/ DEC/ yearly avg
Snow(in) 15.3/ 11.3/ 7.4/ 2.6/ 0.1/ 0.0/ 0.0/ 0.0/ 0.0/ 0.4/ 3.7 /11.8/ 52.6


Snowfall is not much different....snowfall is higher than Brainerd in Duluth (so if you live in Duluth, you normally get more than Milwaukee). THe biggest difference by far is temperatures with much less extreme cold days than northern Minnesota. Whereas getting above 32F in northern Minnesota is rare in the winter it is quite common in southeast Wisconsin. So...on the whole the winter season is shorter in Milwaukee with less extreme cold but snowfall on the whole tends to be about the same. Snow does melt during the winter down there unlike in northern Minnesota where snow stays on the ground for many months. We have a forecaster who is from the Milwaukee area and he says there is no comparison....much more brutal up in far northwest Minnesota than down there.

Hope this helps...and click on the link above to compare many other sites....and if Brainerd is too far removed from where you live you can pick a city close to you.

Dan

[noxxle]

Thank you, that does help. I am about an hour from brainard

[yellowsnow]

Miserable is miserable!

[EnjoyEP]

I was going to second (or third, fourth, etc.) what most everyone else said here...including DaninEGF's very insightful and helpful post.

While GreggB is definitely correct - Milwaukee / WI will never be known for a "mild" winter by any stretch - and while to a certain extent I would agree with yellowsnow that miserable is miserable (does a 25 degree day feel THAT much better than a -5 degree day?)...in comparison to Northern Minnesota (or even most of Minnesota including the Twin Cities), Milwaukee is semi-tropical! That is probably somewhat of a stretch but indeed, there is really no comparison between Northern Minnesota and Milwaukee...Milwaukee is much more mild. You actually have a chance in Milwaukee to have a 45-50 degree day now and then in the winter, and have a chance to have no snow on the ground, whereas in Northern Minnesota, it is a heat wave in the winter if it gets into the 30s.

Not mild in Milwaukee, but certainly more mild.

[GreggB]

Enjoy EP---I agree to what you say here!!!!