Arizona Heat vs Minnesota Cold (living, place, life, people)
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In my experience, colder weather can actually be surprisingly comfortable when you go out and enjoy it. When cross-country skiing in a light coat or jacket, 20 degree weather is just perfect. Anything warmer and you start overheating. In colder weather all you'd have to do is wear a good winter coat. Of course if it drops below 0 then I wouldn't go outside for long, but that only happens a few times a year.
It's more covenient, safer, easier, and less time consuming, to keep cool and comfortable in the extreme summer heat of 90 to 120 degrees temperatures than it is to keep warm and comfortable in the extreme winter cold, 32 to below zero temperatures.
Most people can be ready to go outside when the temperature is 112 degrees in about 30 seconds, or as long as it takes to put on a pair of shorts, t-shirt, and flip flops. When it's zero degrees outside, you have to dress in layers, and that can take up to 30 minutes, and then if the driveway needs to be shoveled in order to get the car out of the driveway, you can tack on another 30 to 45 minutes.
Thing about the winter, it's not just cold temperatures to contend with, but there's also the wind, snow and ice, which can make for almost impossible driving conditions.
Not sure about Arizona vs Minnesota.....but I would say that I prefer the Louisiana heat over the Maryland or West Virginia cold. In the hottest summer days here in Baton Rouge, I can still spend time outdoors and walk outdoors for 20 minutes or more. The same is not true for below 40 degree weather.
LOL you make it sound as if -40ºF is a common occurrence in Minnesota. Those kind of temperatures are exceptionally rare, especially in the Twin Cities. Keep in mind, the record cold temp for Minneapolis is -41ºF, and the last time that happened was in 1888...
LOL you make it sound as if -40ºF is a common occurrence in Minnesota. Those kind of temperatures are exceptionally rare, especially in the Twin Cities. Keep in mind, the record cold temp for Minneapolis is -41ºF, and the last time that happened was in 1888...
lol, some people think that wind chill is a real thing to have to be dealt with
I have been in Minnesota since 2011 and yes it is cold. Negative temps cold. But you can prepare for cold weather. Wearing the right clothes, having a garage to park in, having the right snow tires. So you can have take precaution for MInnesota cold. Even without a remote control starter(which I would suggest anyone get if they have the funds) , I have survived. As long as you have a car, you won't spend too much time outside anyway unless you choose to.
Minnesota cold by a mile. Minnesota is not as cold as people think (100 degrees in the summer isn't rare), and it has 4 distinct seasons. Maybe International Falls would be colder than I'd like, but Minneapolis/St. Paul (where 70% of the state's population resides) is fine.
Not true. The Upper Midwest gets a lot of dry, Arctic air since it's at the center of the continent and far away from oceanic influence. There aren't any barriers to bitter Arctic cold and the jet stream usually dips down below this part of the country in winter months.
The Eastern states continue to get a lot of moisture from the Gulf of Mexico in the winter, and the Appalachians block a lot of Arctic cold fronts that affect areas to their west. Winters are usually very damp along the Eastern seaboard.
True humid cold is what you have in areas like the PNW, which feels quite mild in winter. In the eastern States, the Gulf moisture comes along with the Canadian air masses, so it's more of a hybrid rather than true humid cold.
The Appalachians only block the air until the storm systems pass east, where the Arctic air then has a pathway to bleed down the eastern side through cold air damming.
Last edited by kemahkami; 03-29-2019 at 05:14 PM..
Most people can be ready to go outside when the temperature is 112 degrees in about 30 seconds, or as long as it takes to put on a pair of shorts, t-shirt, and flip flops. When it's zero degrees outside, you have to dress in layers, and that can take up to 30 minutes, and then if the driveway needs to be shoveled in order to get the car out of the driveway, you can tack on another 30 to 45 minutes.
Plus time to start your car, put sunscreen on, make sure you have adequate hydration. I would never get into a car in 112 degree weather without the AC already blasting when I get in. I’ve never spent more than 30 minutes outside in 110+ weather, and would never, unless I’m in a pool or in the shade. I have actually spent a couple hours outside in around 0 degree weather, appropriately dressed of course.
LOL you make it sound as if -40ºF is a common occurrence in Minnesota. Those kind of temperatures are exceptionally rare, especially in the Twin Cities. Keep in mind, the record cold temp for Minneapolis is -41ºF, and the last time that happened was in 1888...
I feel your pain JF! Every post about Phoenix temperatures is "how do you _______ when it's always 120", the truth is it very rarely gets to 120 it's happened 3x in recorded history and the last time was back in the 1990's, so the easy answer is we don't deal with it since that never happens.
Even days over 110 aren't that common, 22 of those in 2018 a whopping 6% of the days in a year are above 110. And that was a record year for heat both here and globally.
Plus time to start your car, put sunscreen on, make sure you have adequate hydration. I would never get into a car in 112 degree weather without the AC already blasting when I get in. I’ve never spent more than 30 minutes outside in 110+ weather, and would never, unless I’m in a pool or in the shade. I have actually spent a couple hours outside in around 0 degree weather, appropriately dressed of course.
Put on sunscreen to go into the car? I've been in the desert for 20 years and never met anyone who applies sunscreen to commute or take any other kind of car trip, any time of year. We tint our car windows here, which proper tint will block both the visible and UV rays as well.
Adapting to the Arizona (Phoenix area) heat is really not any more difficult to adapting to 0 degree weather, I've done both in my life.
1. You can buy a car starter, many new cars some with them, most of us have garages (many both at work and at home) as well which means your car is very rarely sitting outside in 112 degree direct sunshine.
2. The number of days it can hit 112 is rare, even in the hottest of years there's only 22 days or so above 110 so you're talking about 3 weeks cumulative spread over 3 months or so. These super hot days are rare.
3. It's not 100 degrees 24x7, it cools off at night, so when you go into your car first thing in the morning it's perfectly fine. When you leave work in the evening it's already cooling off. Most of us aren't driving around a lot in the peak temps of the day every day.
4. For the majority of office workers, spending much more than a few minutes outside is completely optional. It can simply be a walk from home to the car (if it's not in a garage) and the walk from the car to work.
5. Many of us outdoors enthusiasts don't let the heat deter us, I hit our local trails year-round but do so in a smart way. Night time hiking has become one of my favorite hobbies, the views of city lights is nothing short of awesome!
For 3-4 months of the year we have our "slower" season much like a winter season in the North. You can still go swimming, head 2 hours north to the high country, head to the beaches 4-5 hours away, and stick to the movies, museums, baseball games, and malls during the peak heat ours.
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