How Bad is Chicago's weather (St. Augustine: parking, build, winter)

[marothisu]

You can look at Daily temperature normals on NOAA's website. There's a station for Northerly Island which shows you what the normal temperatures are between 1981 and 2010.
National Weather Service Climate

The coldest days, average wise, is January 6 through February 1st at 26 degrees average. At Northerly Island, it doesn't dip below 30 on average until December 19. The average temperature for 12/10 at this station is still 32 F. The temperatures in downtown and other larger areas will be a few degrees warmer too because of UHIE (Urban Heat Island Effect).

So no, not even is a station which is right on the lake almost all by itself and a good 3/4 to 1 mile away from any residences below the mid 20s average on any given day of the year in the last 30 years. I'm also certain that many stations that are within populated centers (Northerly Island is not one of those) will be a few degrees higher even if they're close to the lake due to UHIE.

[chet everett]

Meh...

I hate having to wear gloves but my doctor and my peers say it could be worse. I remebering even into my 30s never wearing gloves unless I was skiing but now I pretty have to put 'em on even for short periods of time.

When it cold you just got to put on more / better made clothes, fortunately the companies that make this stuff are getting better at making it more comfortable. It must be awful for folks that don't get the good stuff, but honestly for probably under $100 you can get something that is probably warmer and more functional than the gear that Sir Edmund Hillary had access to...

Times like this I also like to spend some time reading up on my favorite weather guy's rants -- Coleman's Corner - ****.com - **** News - San Diego CA - News, Weather, PPR Lord knows if he is out of his mind but it sure is entertaining...

[chirack]

Originally Posted by marothisu

You can look at Daily temperature normals on NOAA's website. There's a station for Northerly Island which shows you what the normal temperatures are between 1981 and 2010.
National Weather Service Climate

The coldest days, average wise, is January 6 through February 1st at 26 degrees average. At Northerly Island, it doesn't dip below 30 on average until December 19. The average temperature for 12/10 at this station is still 32 F. The temperatures in downtown and other larger areas will be a few degrees warmer too because of UHIE (Urban Heat Island Effect).

So no, not even is a station which is right on the lake almost all by itself and a good 3/4 to 1 mile away from any residences below the mid 20s average on any given day of the year in the last 30 years. I'm also certain that many stations that are within populated centers (Northerly Island is not one of those) will be a few degrees higher even if they're close to the lake due to UHIE.

The normal weather for Jan thru Feb is swings of temperatures in the single digits(and bellow zero at night) to highs of 50 even 60 degrees. Sure it averages out to 26F but you would be very mislead thinking 26F is the worse on average you could see in an typical Jan.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by chirack

The normal weather for Jan thru Feb is swings of temperatures in the single digits(and bellow zero at night) to highs of 50 even 60 degrees. Sure it averages out to 26F but you would be very mislead thinking 26F is the worse on average you could see in an typical Jan.

I never said below 26 is impossible. Of course it's possible and it does happen. That's how weather is in a semi volatile environment like the midwest. However, I was talking about averages, not extremes. Of course it can be way below average - a lot of places in the world are like that. Hell, even NYC is about 15-20 degrees under average right now. Averages though mean though that at any given moment for that period of time, the conditions will be at that average most (but not all) of the time.

By the way, it appears as if the lowest recorded low for 12/10 was this year, at least at that station. There's no doubt we're having a cold end of fall so far this year, but it's still in no way the average. If you end up living here for a handful of years, or longer, chances are you'll rarely experience this. Average temperatures don't change this drastically.

[stephei2000]

Originally Posted by marothisu

I never said below 26 is impossible. Of course it's possible and it does happen. That's how weather is in a semi volatile environment like the midwest. However, I was talking about averages, not extremes. Of course it can be way below average - a lot of places in the world are like that. Hell, even NYC is about 15-20 degrees under average right now. Averages though mean though that at any given moment for that period of time, the conditions will be at that average most (but not all) of the time.

By the way, it appears as if the lowest recorded low for 12/10 was this year, at least at that station. There's no doubt we're having a cold end of fall so far this year, but it's still in no way the average. If you end up living here for a handful of years, or longer, chances are you'll rarely experience this. Average temperatures don't change this drastically.

I understand but you are making sound like the highs are around low 20s to 30s everyday in Jan and there are many days that are below that.

That is the impression I get when I read your responses. A person would think it does not dip below this level for long periods of time and it does in the winter.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by stephei2000

I understand but you are making sound like the highs are around low 20s to 30s everyday in Jan and there are many days that are below that.

That is the impression I get when I read your responses. A person would think it does not dip below this level for long periods of time and it does in the winter.

The average highs in Chicago during the winter for populated areas are in the upper 20s to low 30s, and at the end of winter, they're closer to mid 30s. The average lows are more low 20s and sometimes upper teens.

[grapico]

Originally Posted by marothisu

I never said below 26 is impossible. Of course it's possible and it does happen. That's how weather is in a semi volatile environment like the midwest. However, I was talking about averages, not extremes. Of course it can be way below average - a lot of places in the world are like that. Hell, even NYC is about 15-20 degrees under average right now. Averages though mean though that at any given moment for that period of time, the conditions will be at that average most (but not all) of the time.

By the way, it appears as if the lowest recorded low for 12/10 was this year, at least at that station. There's no doubt we're having a cold end of fall so far this year, but it's still in no way the average. If you end up living here for a handful of years, or longer, chances are you'll rarely experience this. Average temperatures don't change this drastically.

That isn't what average is, a better gauge for that would be the "median" b/c median measures actual temperatures. You could have an "average" of 25 and never be close to 25, but have plenty of temps at 50, and plenty at 0. While this is theoretically drastic, this is how upper midwest climates actually function as compared to moderated coastal climates that really don't change as much. And I have strong opinions on *not* using "averages" to compare different climates, but actual days at certain thresholds. For instance, it's easier to tell how tolerable a certain summer climate is by seeing how many days it hit over 90 for instance, or gauge how comfortable a winter climate is by how many days it actually hits under 20. It helps to explain geographical climate differences. I usually agree with you, and probably on this, but people don't live in "averages" day to day. And if you look at average highs for months over the years they can range from like 26-35 on different years for January for example. You are definitely right about the semi volatile environment. Long story short, people think Chicago is colder b/c of frequent arctic dips coming through the interior of the country. Hence why somewhere as as far south as Oklahoma City (a city further west on the plains, but at a much lower latitude) experiences more sub zero days and has colder record lows in Jan/Feb than New York City.

Here is a map from last night's weather.



You can kind of see how the arctic dips emerge, this will happen several times over the winter. This doesn't happen even close to as often for cities near the ocean.

[marothisu]

Yes, that's true, which is why it's important to also look at the high and low in a range as well, and a histogram is even better.

I have lived in three states in the midwest before (Illinois, Minnesota, and Iowa) for many, many winters and it's a safe bet that (a) temperatures will be, more often, within a reasonable range of the average and (b) it can easily stray from it but it's not necessarily the norm from year to year even if it *can* happen.

[JacksonPanther]

Good luck trying to convince someone who is not born and raised in Chicago, that experiencing single-digits in December is not bad because the December average temps will still be in the 20s or 30s. That's just not how people think. Most people say "Sheesh, it's single digits in the beginning of December, and I still have 3 more months of harsh weather ahead of me."

[Irishtom29]

I worked outside around Chicago for 35 years building power plants, refineries, smokestacks, blast furnaces and such. Forget all your statistics, I'm telling you it's pretty God damned cold around here. Sometimes I wore two union suits, Carhartt pants, two flannel shirts, a hooded sweatshirt, a mill jacket, Carhartt bibs, a hard hat liner and a Carhartt coat and STILL froze my ass off. Hard to take a leak- 4 inches of clothes and 2 inches of dick.