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Looking at a lot of the averages Midwestern cities' winters are actually pretty mild/moderate in a lot of cases.
Detroit for example is considered an icebox yet its coldest month has an average high of freezing; only 3 months have a mean that's below freezing. I don't consider a city with a coldest month ranging from 19-32F an icebox at all, after all that means that most winter days are above freezing. The summers are hot and humid as well, it's not like we are talking about Reykjavik here.
St. Louis' coldest month ranges from 24 to 40F - it's about as mild as somewhere like Bend, Oregon in the winter and its summers are much hotter and much much longer (71-89F in July vs 48-82F for Bend).
Even Minneapolis only has 3 months with average lows below freezing, a cold winter for sure but it has a decently hot and equally long summer.
Well, as much as I'd like to say that Minneapolis' winter isn't that bad, this past winter we had 8 months with some form of snowfall. October, November, December, January, February, March, April, and May all had snow at some point. And it was decently cold through all of those months. That said, that was probably one of the longest winters we've had in a very long time.
Well whether they are overstated are not, I see the issue from the get go... You are looking at averages based on usually 40 years of weather data. The difference in midwest and interior continental winter high/low and west or east coastal city high lows is the averages... midwest has wilder temp swings, so you need to look and add up individual days. I.E. count the number of days where it was actually below say, 10 or 20... then compare it to another city you know of. It can be a two days in a row with a high of 50 in Chicago then two days at 5 for example. That averages to 28 degrees, which isn't far off an annual winter high. Even average years can vary from an average of 25-33 degrees as the high for that winter. All it would take is one warm week in the 50s-60s to throw it up, or one brutal week to throw it down. Both are very common possibilities.
So compare that to a coastal city getting average high of 33... they are probably hitting right around there more often. In the real world, I'd rather have right around the 33 more often, than those few 5 degree days. Just my opinion, you might feel differently.
If you are comparing it to say Seattle or San Francisco temps... you can rely on averages way more there as the weather doesn't move far from it that often. Atlantic cities have a similar oceanic moderation, though not as drastic as the pacific moderation.
Well, as much as I'd like to say that Minneapolis' winter isn't that bad, this past winter we had 8 months with some form of snowfall. October, November, December, January, February, March, April, and May all had snow at some point. And it was decently cold through all of those months. That said, that was probably one of the longest winters we've had in a very long time.
True. Winter can be really long and cold there, I just think it's weird how people act like the Midwest is an icebox when it's a sauna for just as long (longer even, in the more southerly latitudes of the region).
Winter in the lower tier of the Midwest is quite moderate too, nothing really brutal about it on the whole.
Can anybody in Omaha tell me what the winters are really like? Is it colder than expected due to wind and general gloominess or do days warm up in the sun like Colorado?
Can anybody in Omaha tell me what the winters are really like? Is it colder than expected due to wind and general gloominess or do days warm up in the sun like Colorado?
Omaha winters are mild compared to the Upper Midwest. It is also has a lot of sunny days. Temperatures can get quite cold there, but frigid cold is not as persistent. You could have a January high of 15F in Omaha and two days later have a high of 45F. Lots of variability and swings in temperature in the Great Plains region.
True. Winter can be really long and cold there, I just think it's weird how people act like the Midwest is an icebox when it's a sauna for just as long (longer even, in the more southerly latitudes of the region).
Winter in the lower tier of the Midwest is quite moderate too, nothing really brutal about it on the whole.
I agree, although like I said, winter is still usually the longest season in the northern Midwest. It does get hot though, for sure.
I'd say, for the Twin Cities, this is how the months usually split up:
January: Very Cold
February: Very Cold
March: Cold
April: Cold-Cool
May: Cool-Warm
June: Warm-Hot
July: Hot
August: Hot-Warm
September: Warm-Cool
October: Cool-Cold
November: Cold
December: Cold-Very Cold
Sometimes the transitions aren't very gradual either. This May we had 6 inches of snow and 20-30 degree weather at the beginning of week and 60-70 degree weather at the end of the week.
yes... ^ so basically 6 months of wintery weather (cold or below), 4 months of summer weather (warm or above), one month of spring (cool), one month of fall (cool).
Growing up in Wisconsin and Minnesota, I don't think the cold winters are overstated. They are definitely frigid, however it's a cold that you get used to. Generally, anything below freezing is just plain cold...I put on my coat, hat, and gloves outside regardless of the temperature. It makes the summer especially exciting though.
The Midwest is not uniformly cold though. I currently live in Cincinnati which has paradise-like weather compared to Milwaukee, Chicago, Minneapolis, and Cleveland. There are only a few days with heavy snow and the four seasons are pretty evenly distributed. The same is true for St Louis and Kansas City.
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