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I need to set a reminder in July to read this thread when it’s in the 90s and hot here in the south and y’all are talking about wearing literal CLEATS for everyday wear. Hell nah. I’ll stick to sweating through my clothes I’m not wearing death traps on my feet. But nice to come back to this when going through yet another summer in the sunbelt.
The upper 20s suck… and so does rain at 35 degrees.
Good, I'll take 10F and dry snow with a nice lower sun angle.
What are you talking about? You are pretending like it doesn’t snow annoyingly heavily in Buffalo or the Northeast. No, it wasn’t the Rockies. I lived in Boston. Shoveling 5 ft of snow is not an exaggeration when we consider snow plows creating massive snow banks on your driveway and sidewalks that you have to then clear. Jan/Feb 2015, I was easily shoveling 5 ft of that crap every week. My house got ice dams, my in laws houses got ice dams. So many houses got ice dams it took months to find contractors.
Clearly we live on different planets when you think Buffalo has great weather.
I never said it was great, just that I prefer cold/dry/snow it to a predominantly cold/cloudy/rainy/wet climate.
Winter snow is a normal part of life, and normal snow events are just dealt with like any other kind of weather event. Its just not a big deal to most people who live here, because its expected, people are prepared, homes are designed to handle it, and cities/towns are ready to deal with it. Of course people complain sometimes, but just as often complain when there is not enough snow (when is winter going to start!).
Are there occasional big events - yes, but they typically don't affect the whole area, but are localized due to regional microclimates due to lake effect from the Great Lakes, wind effects off the escarpments, and thermal effects from warm or cold lake water and changes in elevation.
A few inches of snow? Nobody cares. A foot or two - maybe schools close or adjust times for the bus drivers to await cleared roads. More than a foot or two - may ask that people stay home, or perhaps close some roads. But unless wind driven storms affect visibility, like the blizzard, everything is back up and running pretty quickly.
The blizzard was a big deal - we had no issues or damages, and my kids and grandkid finally got to see a "real" storm on their visits to Buffalo that they can remember and tell their grandkids about one day, like I would tell them my story of the Blizzard of '77. We spent our days in the house, baking bread and cookies, eating, drinking, and opening Christmas presents. It was one of the best Christmas's we ever had together. Afterward we all went out, cleaned the driveway some, walked to neighbors, even walked to local stores before roads were officially opened to drivers.
Despite the snows early this winter, it has been unusually warm this January. No one here has expressed their delight in the gray and rainy weather early this month. But, the first cold and snowy days this week brought everyone back to life.
* Despite how PNW or NE people feel, and regardless of how the vote goes here, most people in the south or southwest probably think voting for either place is nuts. *
Last edited by RocketSci; 01-16-2023 at 09:42 PM..
It's not just snow, which BTW doesn't always get cleared from sidewalks which makes it a PITA to walk anywhere. It's the ice, which makes it more dangerous. Drivers at least here in the Midwest are still driving at or above the speed limit even in these conditions. The PNW has this problem too but it's not as frequent or harsh, at least near the coast. Inland is a different story, but their skiing areas own anything in the northeast.
Dressing up costs money. Gloves, cleats and insulated coats(not jackets, coats) aren't cheap.
Drizzle+mist won't stop you from anything. But even a foot of snow can shut down public transit in the Northeast.
You can get cheap everything - one pair of gloves, a coat, etc. You can go to Target or Burlington. Even the grocery stores sell inexpensive winter wear. You don't need a whole wardrobe, unless you are coming from the tropics in shorts and flip flops. And most people just go from indoors to car to indoors anyway, unless you want to spend time outdoors doing outdoor things, like winter sports, fun, etc.
Comparing drizzle to a foot of snow is disingenuous - how about comparing drizzle with snow dusting instead? For a foot of snow you should be comparing that with a deluge of flooding rains.
There has been zero snow in NYC this season. Although it can snow in the Adirondacks into early spring I wouldn’t count on it being very deep or consistent most seasons.
From NYC the best skiing is minimum 3+ hours away in the Catskills. Gore is nearly 4 hours (250 miles) away and Whiteface is minimum 6 hours (300+ miles) away from the city. If you like consistent snowfall with great skiing and snowmobiling you might as well skip NYC and pretty much anything along the coast south of Maine. It’s even worse in Pennsylvania. You are more likely to be skiing muddy ice with a thin crust of snow.
Driving 500-600+ miles round trip to ski decent terrain for those living in NJ/NYC is crazy. Even further if you want to drive to Vermont.
Once you get into Vermont it does improve but every location in the Pacific Northwest absolutely blows the NE out of the water for access to winter sports, consistent snowfall, length of season, and number of options.
Yes, being close to mountains is a game changer w.r.t. winter sports. Boise usually doesn't have snow on the ground, but our local resort is just 15 miles up the mountain. We can go from our door to skiing in ~30 minutes. Compared to coastal California, where skiing for us was 3-5 hours away (depending on traffic) it's just a lot nicer here. So we go for quick morning, afternoon, or night sessions and get 10-15 runs in a couple of hours then head home. We normally get in 40-50 days of skiing during the season.
Spring skiing, which for southwest Idaho begins early March, is almost magical. Lovely soft corn snow in the afternoon followed by BBQing in the backyard in shorts and a T-shirt.
I need to set a reminder in July to read this thread when it’s in the 90s and hot here in the south and y’all are talking about wearing literal CLEATS for everyday wear. Hell nah. I’ll stick to sweating through my clothes I’m not wearing death traps on my feet. But nice to come back to this when going through yet another summer in the sunbelt.
The upper 20s suck… and so does rain at 35 degrees.
There has been zero snow in NYC this season. Although it can snow in the Adirondacks into early spring I wouldn’t count on it being very deep or consistent most seasons.
From NYC the best skiing is minimum 3+ hours away in the Catskills. Gore is nearly 4 hours (250 miles) away and Whiteface is minimum 6 hours (300+ miles) away from the city. If you like consistent snowfall with great skiing and snowmobiling you might as well skip NYC and pretty much anything along the coast south of Maine. It’s even worse in Pennsylvania. You are more likely to be skiing muddy ice with a thin crust of snow.
Driving 500-600+ miles round trip to ski decent terrain for those living in NJ/NYC is crazy. Even further if you want to drive to Vermont.
Once you get into Vermont it does improve but every location in the Pacific Northwest absolutely blows the NE out of the water for access to winter sports, consistent snowfall, length of season, and number of options.
You do realize that there is more to NY State than NYC, right? So, it may be a matter of where you are in the state or Northeast, just like most regions across the country.
I spent 30 winters in the PNW, and I despise that winter, but it's much more tolerable for me than the northeast USA winter cold and dreary.
Actually if you're east of the Appalachians, southern New Hampshire is actually sunnier in the winter compared to comparable latitudes to the west in the Great Lakes region. This is due to the drying downslope winds (on a very small scale).
Actually if you're east of the Appalachians, southern New Hampshire is actually sunnier in the winter compared to comparable latitudes to the west in the Great Lakes region. This is due to the drying downslope winds (on a very small scale).
Yeah, I'm sure that most of New England is sunnier in the winter than most of the PNW but it's also much colder which I also am no fan.
And most people just go from indoors to car to indoors anyway, unless you want to spend time outdoors doing outdoor things, like winter sports, fun, etc.
Since we're an urban board I suspect a lot of people are thinking in terms of walking to things.
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