Chicago not cold at all as a city

[HockeyGuy85]

Originally Posted by jwaiter

Wind- Average Wind Speed- (MPH)...

Wind- Average Wind Speed- (MPH)

Almost exactly the same..


DATA THROUGH 2002

YRS JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC ANN

CHICAGO,IL 11.6 11.4 11.8 11.9 10.5 9.3 8.4 8.2 8.9 10.1 11.1 11.0 10.3

NEW YORK C.PARK, NY 10.6 10.7 11.0 10.2 8.8 8.1 7.6 7.5 8.1 8.8 9.8 10.1 9.3

Q: What is the windiest city in the USA?
A: According to the National Climatic Data Center's list of annual average wind speeds, the windiest U.S. city is Dodge City, Kansas, with an average speed of 13.9 mph. Other windy cities include Amarillo, Texas (13.5 mph) and Rochester, Minn. (13.1 mph.). The windiest "big" cities are New York City (LaGuardia Airport) and Oklahoma City, which both have an average annual wind speed of 12.2 mph.
The "windy city" of Chicago isn't as high on the list as you might think. It's average annual wind speed is 10.3 mph.
Our answers archive has more FAQ about wind speed averages and records.
(Answered by Doyle Rice, USATODAY.com weather editor., June 23, 2005)

[HockeyGuy85]

Chicago's average annual wind speed is 10.3 miles an hour
New York City's annual wind speed is 12.2 miles an hour

In terms of record highs and lows:

Chicago's record high is: 104
Chicago's record low is: -24

New York City's record high is: 107
New York City's record low is: -15

In terms of record snow falls. Chicago's 3 largest record snowfalls were:

1. 23.0 inches Jan 26-27, 1967
2. 21.6 inches Jan 1-3, 1999
3. 19.2 inches Mar 25-26, 1930

New York City's were:

1. 26.9 Feb. 11-12, 2006
2. 26.4 Dec. 26-27 1947
3. 24 Jan. 26-28 1805

NYC actually has higher record snowfall than Chicago does.


Snow totals may have to be updated after last years winter. The day after X-Mas, I had to drive back home to NYC from Upstate and it was during that awful snow storm where the city got about 26-27 inches again. There was also a record storm in Chicago too last winter.

I need to research the totals.

12/26/10 storm dropped 25" in Brooklyn, and 20" in CP.

2011 blizzard in Chicago received 20" inches.

[sunnyandcloudydays]

It is a preception from others Chicago is this snowy and cold city.

On average Chicago probably receives more snow than most U.S. Cities.

In the spring time it appears to me Chicago is literally a Windy City.
However this is probably the norm in the Midwest as we transition from cold to warm weather.

Yesterday was a good example.

[Chicago60614]

This is like debating which would you rather move to out of the top 300 in the country. The one with the 262nd worst winter, or the one with the 268th worth winter.

If you go drop two humans in NYC and Chicago with no previous thoughts on the subject, they're probably going to have fairly similar experiences. Yes, Chicago does get a bit colder, but honestly they're pretty similar in the grand sceme of things.

[andrew61]

Originally Posted by sunnyandcloudydays

On average Chicago probably receives more snow than most U.S. Cities.

Chicago gets less snow than my native Cleveland -- enough so that I really noticed the difference after I moved here. It was a pleasant surprise.

[sunnyandcloudydays]

Yeah Cleveland picks up the lake effect snow bands.

If the lake was not there I am sure the precipitation would be about like Chicago in the winter.

In all reality I think we would all take a winter like we just experienced.
Unless your a die heard Norwegian.

Not looking forward to the steamy hot days of summer but this winter was a CAKE walk.

[grapico]

Chicago is another level of cold, and the winter starts earlier and lasts longer, with more frequent drops into what most people would consider "cold that sucks". I've seen about 6 weeks straight where the temp maybe rose above freezing ONLY 2-3 of those days.
Last year there was 1-2 days of sunshine in April, after one of the worst winters ever.
It can be much worse.
Did the river completely freeze over for days this year? No.
Has it done it in the past? Yes, of course.
Was it snowing near the end of April last year? Yes. Was it still mid 30s wind chill at the end of May last year? Yes.
Has there been aprils where it didn't snow at all? Yes.
Will it be this year? Probably not...
But yes... a bad Chicago winter is significantly worse than what NYC usually gets. Chicago only gets a BAD winter maybe 1 of 4 years, 2 are Average, then 1 (like this year) are a cake walk. The last cake walk winter I remember was 2006. This year might go down as the mildest winter EVER...so...no it isn't normal.
How about a summer that barely even comes??? Yeah, I think many of us remember 2009.

NYC is of course cold also, but if the question is Chicago winter worse? Umm. yes. I've been in both.