Major US metros with sunny and snow covered winters (vs, activities)
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The Twin Cities is really the only major US metro where snow cover for most of the winter is basically guaranteed.
Buffalo also comes to mind but it's not really a major metro.
And Buffalo is cloudy as hell.
If one's measuring stick for "major" is "has professional sports and isn't Green Bay", then Minneapolis is the only option. The Great Lakes metros have full winters, but little sun.
If you don't have to live in that major metro area, but in a exurb, then pick Park City, UT with its easy access down the canyon /freeway to Salt Lake City. SLC isn't always snow covered, and sometimes the sun is blocked by inversion based smog, but up the canyons to many smaller towns will get you lots of snow cover and lots of sun.
I would think the same could be said for some mountain towns near Denver too.
If one's measuring stick for "major" is "has professional sports and isn't Green Bay", then Minneapolis is the only option. The Great Lakes metros have full winters, but little sun.
They won't necessarily have snow cover all winter, though. Pretty much every other major Midwestern metro is significantly more mild in the winter compared to the Twin Cities. They'll get snowfalls but it generally melts not long after. In the Twin Cities it snows in November or December and then mostly doesn't melt until March.
They won't necessarily have snow cover all winter, though. Pretty much every other major Midwestern metro is significantly more mild in the winter compared to the Twin Cities. They'll get snowfalls but it generally melts not long after. In the Twin Cities it snows in November or December and then mostly doesn't melt until March.
Fargo and Duluth are probably worse, if you're counting them.
Twin Cities is probably the best answer as everywhere to the east gets a LOT of cloud cover through the winter. At least in the northern latitudes. Thank the Great Lakes and Atlantic. Fargo is a good one too, but obviously way smaller and not a major metro.
Other answers with some notes...
Flagstaff - Who knew it snows in the desert? This place gets 90 inches of snowfall per year. And the mean snow depth is greater than 2 inches from early December through mid-March... peaking around 5 inches in late January. However, this really doesn't qualify under major metro.
Salt Lake City - If you've ever been here in the winter, you know there really isn't that much snow down in the city which sits in the valley. However, the second you begin to increase elevation... voila, winter wonderland! Those familiar with the benches around the city know that if you're above 5000' in the Upper Avenues or East Bench or around Ensign Park.. you're going to get a lot of snow and it lingers too. There are also areas in North Salt Lake and other burbs that site on the bench or foothills too.
Boulder - Similar to SLC but not as extreme. Boulder gets more snow than Denver but those neighborhoods of Boulder that sit right next to the mtns get more snow than downtown Boulder.
Boston is the sunniest (in avg annual sunshine hours) major metro of the Northeast (weather systems tend to exit the USA quickly from here) - arguably of the Lower 48 quadrant east of the Twin Cities and north of VA Beach. But snow on the ground is not consistent, and arguably the one thing noticeably decreasing with climate change, while the same change can produce more big storms due to increased water vapor availability (though said storms occur within a narrower time span than former winters).
Kinda true....though I do want to point out that Boston Logan Airport is located literally right on the coast...
and slightly misrepresents the more inland sections of Boston and its suburbs....
other local weather stations, like Blue Hill Observatory...indicate lower average monthly sunshine hours...
Minneapolis is the best combo in terms of a major city with sunny and snow covered winters...and much colder, plenty of snow and still relatively sunny.
Twin Cities is probably the best answer as everywhere to the east gets a LOT of cloud cover through the winter. At least in the northern latitudes. Thank the Great Lakes and Atlantic. Fargo is a good one too, but obviously way smaller and not a major metro.
If we use Concord, NH as an extreme for inland greater Boston suburbs:
Concord: 214, 183, 127, 134, 162, 171, 210
Providence airport weather station is 4 miles from the Narragansett and 20 miles from open ocean. Only gets 38" of snow though.
PVD: 233, 209, 148, 148, 171, 172, 215
Now Concord is a lot further North, but still in the Boston CSA. In the deep winter, New England cities are sunnier than Minneapolis. Spring and fall might be sunnier in Minneapolis.
Now once you get to Albany or Burlington, they get cloudy.
If we use Concord, NH as an extreme for inland greater Boston suburbs:
Concord: 214, 183, 127, 134, 162, 171, 210
Providence airport weather station is 4 miles from the Narragansett and 20 miles from open ocean. Only gets 38" of snow though.
PVD: 233, 209, 148, 148, 171, 172, 215
Now Concord is a lot further North, but still in the Boston CSA. In the deep winter, New England cities are sunnier than Minneapolis. Spring and fall might be sunnier in Minneapolis.
Now once you get to Albany or Burlington, they get cloudy.
Well...OP is just concerned with winter...and Boston is abit sunnier than Minneapolis....
but ...here's the big but.....Boston is just too fricking mild....you get a big dumping of snow...
then it gets mild ...even rainy ...and it's gone.....snow cover not consistant ....
Minneapolis is much colder in winter than Boston...hopefully we can all agree on that...
snow cover will last longer in a colder winter....
1. The earliest sunset of 4:12pm is the earliest of any major US city. I used to get up as early as possible but I noticed the extra 35 mins you get on the back end in DC and SF, makes a big difference in December to still be twilight at 5p vs pitch black.
2. The wind - Boston is the windiest major US city. This can wreck a day as much as cloudiness.
3. Boston is sunnier than DC in winter due to being so far east and the Berkshires blocking Great Lakes cloudiness. Richmond is much sunnier than DC in January due to the extra distance from the Great Lakes. While rare, you can get Lake Effect snow squalls around Washington. I once got stuck in one on the Beltway near the Wisconsin Ave exit that gave way to clear skies just a few miles away by the American Legion Bridge.
4. Sloow Spring. Boston has one the lowest avg April highs among major US cities, slightly lower than Minneapolis.
If you like snow and sun, KC and Omaha are good bets. KC has a higher sun percentage than many Southern cities in January, and gets almost 20 inches per year. It also doesn't melt as quickly as it does in Denver. Omaha's slightly less sunnier but with about 40% more snow.
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