What's worse: Living in a place that has brutal summers or brutal winters? (ski resorts, assess)

[skylar0201]

Originally Posted by marionluigi

It depends. For elderly usually the cold winter is worse for things like chronic pain, bronchitis, etc.

If you have allergies, things being in bloom all the time can be troublesome. But then again there are medications/shots that can handle that.

You have to also remember that there are different kinds of heat. The heat of the midwest and down throughout the south is a humid heat and raises the heat index. The heat of places like Arizona or California might be higher temps, but it is generally a more tolerable heat in short bursts.
Some of the most miserable, sticky, mosquitoee summertime weather I've ever experienced has been in places like St. Louis or Chicago. I think the reason people hate the cold more than the heat is that cold is usually accompanied by more lack of sunlight. That's not healthy.

Correct. I think most doctors would say the cold is harder on the elderly because it makes such conditions as arthritis worse, but just make sure you have A/C wherever you're at; particularly the south or the hot SW desert.

90 degrees of CA heat is MUCH easier to take than 85 degree midwest, south or east coast heat anyday though! However, on days during monsoon-storms and such, than I'd have to say they are either the same or CA/desert SW would be worse because that hot sun is around much longer and doesn't cool off as rapidly either.

[californio sur]

Originally Posted by skylar0201

Yep, that is true. Here on the west side of the country, the humidity levels drop as the sun comes up ( most often than not anyway ) but in the midwest and east coast, it rises with the sun.

That's the bad part of living in moderate temp regions--we don't get to have 4 seasons that the rest of the country sees.

I've been to Oregon in the summer & it was really hot [we were in Medford] but I haven't been up to Portland yet [though my oldest cousin & his girlfriend moved there a year ago so I hope to visit]. The "beach cities" of LA [Santa Monica\ Redondo\ Hermosa, etc] can be really humid during summer but the temp is quite comfortable. I love riding bikes along the Strand. Even on a sunny afternoon it is really nice & cool. But nights can be uncomfortable because of the mugginess. I've left Pasadena when its in the 90's and arrived in Westwood where it is maybe 78F and felt more uncomfortable on the West side due to the humidity. But once santa ana winds start up in the fall the humidity is non-existent & you feel itchy w/ chapped lips but fairly comfortable even at 100F.

[skylar0201]

Originally Posted by californio sur

I've been to Oregon in the summer & it was really hot [we were in Medford] but I haven't been up to Portland yet [though my oldest cousin & his girlfriend moved there a year ago so I hope to visit]. The "beach cities" of LA [Santa Monica\ Redondo\ Hermosa, etc] can be really humid during summer but the temp is quite comfortable. I love riding bikes along the Strand. Even on a sunny afternoon it is really nice & cool. But nights can be uncomfortable because of the mugginess. I've left Pasadena when its in the 90's and arrived in Westwood where it is maybe 78F and felt more uncomfortable on the West side due to the humidity. But once santa ana winds start up in the fall the humidity is non-existent & you feel itchy w/ chapped lips but fairly comfortable even at 100F.

Yeah, Medford is hot! It is only like 30 miles from the CA/OR state line, and it is commonly about 100F daily there. Want to go to even a hotter place in OR and one that is usually on some days, the hottest in the nation outside of the desert SW?

Try The Dalles, OR in the Columbia River Gorge ( just 80 miles east of here ). Quite often, they will hit 110F in the summer.

Hmm, I was in Santa Monica well for a few days about 5 yrs ago in the summer and it was okay--maybe I am a little bit more acclimated to more humid temps than you might be though. I do know though in LA, it will feel much cooler than Portland at night in the summer time. It is like you can wear shorts and a t-shirt during the day, and sometimes you'd need either pants and a windbreaker at night--it gets surprisingly chilly there when the sun goes down, whereas here, you'll still need shorts and just a t-shirt even at 3 or 4am, and yeah, those Santa Ana winds are a pure mess the trouble with fires and such they end up causing down there...

It does seem like the LA/Long Beach area will be muggier in the morning ( compared to Portland ) whereas at night, Portland will feel muggier...not sure why that is--maybe because we'll have a little bit more sunlight than you guys do in the summertime not sure ( here, it doesn't get dark till 10 and sometimes even closer to 10:30pm in the summer. ) My dad visited here a few yrs back ( he lives in southern Cal ) and he was surprised we had so much sunlight in the summer time LOL

[tahiti]

Originally Posted by rnc2mbfl

Brutal Winters are worse. Nobody gets trapped in their homes because the heat piles up 7 feet of drifted snow against their front door.

and I don't get skin cancer from 7 feet of snow.....

[skylar0201]

Originally Posted by tahiti

and I don't get skin cancer from 7 feet of snow.....

LOL! that's true! :-)

[skinem]

Originally Posted by skylar0201

Yeah, Medford is hot! It is only like 30 miles from the CA/OR state line, and it is commonly about 100F daily there. Want to go to even a hotter place in OR and one that is usually on some days, the hottest in the nation outside of the desert SW?

Try The Dalles, OR in the Columbia River Gorge ( just 80 miles east of here ). Quite often, they will hit 110F in the summer.

...and for even hotter go a little further east and try the Hermiston, OR area (Hermiston, Umatilla, Irrigon, Boardman, Pendleton). Hottest I've seen outside of summer visits to Las Vegas and when I lived in NM. It hit 117 one summer when I lived there.

To me the question about which is worse--brutal summers or brutal winters is easy...I prefer living in a place with a brutal winter.

I'm a humidity wimp. I hate it . Living in the SE in the summer just dogs me. Desert living was easy to me over the SE summers and their humidity.

But, I look at it this way...I can put more clothes on and be warm. I can take everything off and still be hot.

[skylar0201]

Originally Posted by skinem

...and for even hotter go a little further east and try the Hermiston, OR area (Hermiston, Umatilla, Irrigon, Boardman, Pendleton). Hottest I've seen outside of summer visits to Las Vegas and when I lived in NM. It hit 117 one summer when I lived there.

To me the question about which is worse--brutal summers or brutal winters is easy...I prefer living in a place with a brutal winter.

I'm a humidity wimp. I hate it . Living in the SE in the summer just dogs me. Desert living was easy to me over the SE summers and their humidity.

But, I look at it this way...I can put more clothes on and be warm. I can take everything off and still be hot.

Nope, I'd still say The Dalles over the Pendleton/Hermiston area. I spent a couple of weeks a few times each summer traveling through those areas ( I used to do long-distance courier work too up to just a year and half ago traveling through the Gorge even as far east as Baker City ) and yes, even as hot as Pendleton can get, The Dalles will be a few degrees warmer.

Occasionally, if you watch The Weather Channel in the summer time, The Dalles will top the list for extreme highs about as often as Yuma, AZ does, and is considered the "hotbox" of the NW region. The average daily high during peak summer months for Pendleton is like 100 ( similar to Medford ) but The Dalles is closer to 105, I don't know if it is because it is smack in the middle of the Gorge or what, but it doesn't help that area is so flammable anyway ( 3 times I got to sit on I-84 for a few hours because of wild fires crossing the interstate and along the hillside in The Dalles and surrounding areas like Biggs, Mosier, etc, . ) I'd be curious to find out what the record high for The Dalles is. I asked one woman that I worked with that lived in The Dalles, and she said it is because of a large cannery they have downtown, the heat that thing generates seems to increase the heat in that area; particularly downtown.

I agree w/ your assessment regarding clothing though--its far easier to warm up than it is to cool off

[GLS2010]

At least in the brutal summers you can still enjoy outdoor activities and do stuff like this: Chill Sunday - May 26, 2008 @ Metropolitan pool on Vimeo, and other things like going to the beach, and you still see a lot of people out doors in brutal summers like in FL playing sports, attending events, etc..

where as in the brutal winters your pretty much stuck inside, unless your shoveling snow, or driving hours away on icy road to go on a ski trip.

[machiavelli1]

Brutal winters easily

Snow is cool through about New Years and then it REALLY gets old

[skylar0201]

Originally Posted by GLS2010

At least in the brutal summers you can still enjoy outdoor activities and do stuff like this: Chill Sunday - May 26, 2008 @ Metropolitan pool on Vimeo, and other things like going to the beach, and you still see a lot of people out doors in brutal summers like in FL playing sports, attending events, etc..

where as in the brutal winters your pretty much stuck inside, unless your shoveling snow, or driving hours away on icy road to go on a ski trip.

That is based on ones perception. True, you can't do picnics or go waterskiing, but if you live in a cold climate, you will find things to do.

One thing I notice though: those that live in warmer climates, or I should say hot climates only find things to do when it is warm outside, but those that live in cold climates can find things to do that can be done during both warm and cold weather, so that would almost basically mean that those that live in cold climates can adapt to activities that take place regardless of the temperatures easier than those who live in warmer climates.

For instance, those who live in the south or southern CA in the valleys would say you can do everything in the warm temps but when it is cold outside, all you can do is ski, snowboard and like you mentioned--shoveling snow or driving somewhere on an icy road.

Those that live in colder climates would say you can do all of that, plus you can still hunt ( a very popular activity ), fish--even ice-fishing, you can still rock climb as long as you use a plan as to the route you'd take--the list is endless, but those that live in warmer climates don't consider a lot of these just because they never participate in them like those who live in cold climates.

Believe me, if you live long enough in a cold climate, you will find things to do, and find ways of doing them ( thinking outside the box ) either on your own or with friends who have lived there longer than you.