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So with Dallas, you can always jump in the pool. However, if I'm able to work at my home, or hang out at my home during a snow storm, there aren't many things better in life than having a bourbon by the fire while snow is falling.
This is one thing I have never understood when people bring up Chicago winters, it seems like it's always had this stigma attached to it? People seem to think it's extreme I've lived here my whole life and I just don't get it. I mean I'm a truck driver I go all over the country and it seems pretty comparable to most cities of the north, I'll grant you with the wind chill of the lake there are about a handful of days throughout the winter that get below zero but that's about it the last several winters I've had no problems with at all pretty mild. We get four seasons here I like that.
Freezing cold, ice and snow for quite a bit of the year is way worse than the couple of months that Dallas gets hot. Plus you don't have to shovel sunshine. Put on some sun screen and hit the pool or a nearby lake or waterpark and enjoy yourself!
In Chicago, it's not like you're Denver where you have great snow skiing nearby. You're just cold and snowed in.
Dallas has a pretty long warm weather season which is comparable to the Summers in Chicago as well. Overall the weather is just more pleasant down here most of the year.
I don't think Chicago winters are particularity bad. It's not as cold as the Upper Midwest (Minneapolis is usually 15-20 degrees colder) and not as gloomy and snowy as the Rust Belt (Buffalo and Cleveland get three times as much snow).
Yeah, each year there'll be a few cold snaps, each lasting two or three days, when going outside is uncomfortable. Just plan your errands before the front hits and spend those cold days bundled up with a good book and some hot tea. Otherwise, the average Chicago winter day is something that anyone could acclimate to.
This is one thing I have never understood when people bring up Chicago winters, it seems like it's always had this stigma attached to it? People seem to think it's extreme I've lived here my whole life and I just don't get it. I mean I'm a truck driver I go all over the country and it seems pretty comparable to most cities of the north, I'll grant you with the wind chill of the lake there are about a handful of days throughout the winter that get below zero but that's about it the last several winters I've had no problems with at all pretty mild. We get four seasons here I like that.
Chicago's coldest month is January, during which the average high temperature is 31.5° and the average minimum temperature is 18.2°. The highest temperature reached in the average January is 52°. The average coldest temperature of the year is -9°. The average total snowfall is 36.7 inches over 28 days of accumulating snow. 7.5 inches is the greatest accumulation for one day in a normal season. In the average year, 49 days have at least an inch of snow on the ground. This snow cover peaks at around 10 inches. The period for accumulating snow is roughly November 16th until March 28th.
Dallas's warmest month is August, during which the average high temperature is 96.4° and the average low temperature is 76.8°. The month with the highest mean minimum is July, at 70°. The average hottest temperature of the year is 105°.
In response to other posters: Minneapolis is colder than Chicago, but the difference is only approximately 10 degrees. Also, Chicago summers are significantly cooler than Dallas, usually by about 10 degrees. The average summer highs in Chicago peak in the low to mid 80s, with lows in the mid to upper 60s.
It is certainly a matter of personal preference, but I would choose Chicago every time. One can always put on more layers, however the same does not hold true for removing them. Although these cities do have reputations for their weather, neither is close to the most extreme in the United States. Minneapolis is the coldest major American city, Buffalo is the snowiest, Phoenix is the hottest during the summer, and Miami has the hottest city with high humidity levels.
All data is from 1981-2010. All temperatures are in Fahrenheit. Midway Airport is used for Chicago and Love Field Airport is used for Dallas.
I would rather deal with heat, humidity and sunshine than 5 or 6 months of darkness, cold, and misery. I say that as a someone who lives in the Chicago suburbs.
As I always say, "You can always put on more layers if you're cold, but you can't rip your skin off if you're hot."
Jokes aside, I'll take a cold snowy winter over a hot and humid summer, although I prefer seasonality in general to keep things interesting. As an outdoors person, I've always enjoyed the tranquility that winters give to the environment, and I don't just mean in the countryside. With more people staying indoors and the white snow on the ground, there's a certain peace that can be achieved even in dense urban cores that I really appreciate.
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