Where is the line for 4 seasons and not if you had to draw it? (house, backyard)
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Minneapolis is far inland and on open flat land. Duluth would be a better comparable since it’s near the woods of the far north if not in it and also on Lake Superior which is definitely big enough to affect weather patterns.
Minneapolis is better compared to Texas or Oklahoma where, outside of Houston and it’s coastal and swampy brethren areas, is very volatile. Dallas, Austin, San Antonio etc. Texas is very clearly more volatile than the much more heavily treed and wooded areas of the deeper Southeast like the Carolinas, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama. In part due to extensive forest and also getting moderation from the gulf, Atlantic, and even a buffer zone of the Great Lakes for polar vortexes from Canada as well as an additional buffer via the Appalachian mountain range.
You can make the same argument when comparing Minneapolis to New England or upstate NY I’m sure. Closer to bigger waters and also big mountains and yes even though those areas are indeed cold, they are probably still less hot in the summer and less cold in the winter than the Twin Cities.
Temperature-wise, spring degrees are the warmest starting in April, grass beginning to grow and leaves budding out. Planting on May 24 weekend. I normally start planting by end of April.
Summer temps are generally higher in July. Recent years have more extended hot periods topping at 100F. Last year we had temp registered at 108F.
Fall is pleasant 60s-70s F, but first freeze and snow is around Oct 30, although this has changed as the Earth warms.
Winter, some years, can be brutal for anyone who is not used to it. But we are so used to it, it's nothing. Our coldest month is usually Jan. City construction crews are still working outside at 5 F.
A 4 season climate is a balanced climate with equal fall, winter, spring, and summer with good variability. I tend to think of a place like Iowa when I think of balance. Just my opinion.
This thread is so Northern-centric it's ridiculous. Most of this Earth does not experience snowfall, and only 20% of all humans have ever seen snowfall give or take.
I think a good chunk of the Northern US doesn't experience a true summer. Mind telling me how Buffalo which peaks in the 70s on average is a place that gets summer heat? People idolize summers in Chicago, also in the 70s, because it's perfect weather to traverse the city, it's not HOT at 70 degrees.
Where did you get this stat? It seems really hard to believe.
China alone contains about 18.5% of the world population, and most Chinese people live in areas that experience snow. I’d guess the vast majority of Americans and Europeans have seen snow at some point in their lives. Of course everyone from Canada and Russia has seen snow. A lot of Japan gets snow.
A 4 season climate is a balanced climate with equal fall, winter, spring, and summer with good variability. I tend to think of a place like Iowa when I think of balance. Just my opinion.
As an Iowan, I've always felt that we had 4 true, distinct, intense seasons.
We get pretty close to the full force of all 4. We have hot humid summers that regularly break 100 degrees. We have cold, relatively snowy winters (although the amount of snow is really diminishing) where we will get subzero temps every year. We get an intense spring where the world comes to life in a real burst. We have beautiful autumns with bright colors, lots of sun, and dry mild weather.
As an Iowan, I've always felt that we had 4 true, distinct, intense seasons.
We get pretty close to the full force of all 4. We have hot humid summers that regularly break 100 degrees. We have cold, relatively snowy winters (although the amount of snow is really diminishing) where we will get subzero temps every year. We get an intense spring where the world comes to life in a real burst. We have beautiful autumns with bright colors, lots of sun, and dry mild weather.
Any significant type of winter is getting far less over time, especially south of I-80. It's more like "winter events," not an actual season with the continued pronounced winter warming.
Any significant type of winter is getting far less over time, especially south of I-80. It's more like "winter events," not an actual season with the continued pronounced winter warming.
I don't think you have to have sustained snow to qualify as winter.
I would say you have to some winter events, and your plant life has to die and stay dormant for a couple of months to qualify as winter.
I'd say that some place like the I-40 corridor, while never having sustained cold and snow, has enough cold and snow that when it's coupled with plants dying and staying dormant, it definitely has a winter that's distinct from spring and fall. I-30 even gets that dead and dormant stuff.
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