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When I worked in downtown Chicago there was a nice underground system of pedestrian tunnels. I usually grabbed a bite for lunch or coffee somewhere in the massive underground maze without ever stepping outside in the winter.
I’m not sure why the Chicago posters here are so defensive. Of course Minneapolis has worse winters than Chicago. But Chicago still has worse winters compared to most other larger cities in the continental US. Is this really so controversial?
I would say Boston has very comparable winters to Chicago, yet doesn't get nearly as much flack as Chi does for them. In fact Bos probably gets more snowfall per winter on average than Chi.
Nobody here though is arguing that Chicago isn't the coldest of the top 5 U.S. cities (NYC/LA/DC/SF).
However I do question the souls who are voting for Chicago in this poll and their sanity level. This poll question isn't even a topic worthy of debate. Minneapolis has worse winters.
It’s weird. Seattle has fairly dry summers but humid winters. The last place I lived, Kansas City, has fairly even humidity throughout the year but about 10% lower humidity in the winter compared to Seattle. Winters in KC actually were pretty easy, very sunny with very cold and very mild days, but the cold days didn’t really seem horribly cold. Seattle has been more of a challenge for me because even low 40s with just a bit of wind can be bone chilling with that saturated air of 80+% humidity. Whereas in KC a dry day in the 20s didn’t really faze me, unless the wind chill was quite severe.
Not sure what the humidity levels in MSP are but IMO humidity really does make quite a difference.
I don't do any cold winters anymore, but I'd be curious to see the wind difference. I grew up near Boston, which is not only colder than Minneapolis in April, but is actually windier than Chicago. The duration of winter there is what did me in, late March days in the 30s when even New York was topping 50 were the worst.
I've never been to Minneapolis, and I'm from Cleveland, so if Minneapolis is significantly colder than Chicago, then Chicago wins hands down. With that, the coldest I have ever experienced was Chicago (it was actually Jan. 18, 2020 ... know that because I looked up the day the Cavs played the Bulls last year in Chicago). I was out there with a group of friends and we decided to go to the game (why, IDK, they were two of the worst teams in the NBA. The Bulls came back from a 25 or so point down to win and Zach LaVine scored like 45, but I digress).
I had never been so bone-chilling cold. Temperature actually wasn't bad during the day (probably mid-30s) but it dropped to about 5 degrees and the wind was 35 to 40 MPH, putting the wind chill around -40-plus (it probably has got that low in Cleveland but I have never had to be outside in it for that amount of time). Waiting for an hour or so in the Uber lot after the game was the worst experience ever, especially since there is nothing around the United Center but parking lots, so not like you could just walk into a bar and wait. There were thousands of people waiting and we were packed in like penguins trying to stay warm, taking turns on who would be in the middle to be blocked from the wind. The saving grace was the the Bulls' giveaway that night was a winter Bulls hat ... granted they probably had that planned months in advance but it saved a lot of dumbasses (like me) that weren't wearing one.
It was also snowing too, but that doesn't bother me (again from Cleveland).
Anyway, despite that, Chicago is still a great city, even in the winter, and if that was bad timing thing as far as hitting the worst possible day, so be it. But if that type of cold is not uncommon in Minneapolis, note to self, never go there in January, lol.
Someone mentioned underground tunnels... Minneapolis also has the skyway system, which allows you to conduct business as usual without ever having to go outdoors. In fact, I once worked DT Mpls whilst living in the suburbs, and I could go from my heated garage at home, to a heated parking ramp to a heated skyway, into my building and vice versa. Never having to embrace the elements at all.
Lived in Chicago, its winters are no joke, that stated .. I would take them with a smile over the crazy impossible MSP gets. I don't know how you guys manage it.
I'm just going to assume MSP has worse winters than Chicago. I mean, Minneapolis is the Phoenix of winters. Doesn't get more brutal than that. A much better match up would have been Chicago winters vs Boston winters. I believe one gets colder temps while the other gets more inches of snow.
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