Why are Southerners scared of the Cold? (camp, vs.)
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Location: Cleveland bound with MPLS in the rear-view
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ogre
I don’t think there’s any reason to describe those from the North as more hardy. I live in the Boston area, and hear plenty of complaints about both heat and cold. Hot weather or cold, it’s a matter of tolerating unpleasant weather because that’s what it happens to be like in the place where you happen to live. It’s a question of what you get used to, not some innately superior tolerance for extremes of weather. I think Sherbet’s earlier observation that Southerners are “afraid” of the cold for the same reason Northerners are “afraid” of the heat pretty well sums it up.
Annie_himself, regarding your observation about the kind of cold you get with high humidity, I agree that this can be uncomfortable. That dank chill really cuts right through you. Those of us up north are not altogether unfamiliar with that discomfort. We get plenty of that kind of weather, only we get it here in March and April instead of January. You make a good point, though, about the fact that even the deep South, except maybe way down deep into Florida, gets some chilly weather, sometimes even truly cold weather. I’ve met people up this way who seem to have the misconception that the entire South is toasty all year—like a guy I used to work with who thought that average highs in Norfolk (that’s Norfolk, VA) were in the 80’s in January. Not quite. You make a good point, that Southerners do know something of what winter is about. And you’re probably right that average winter days in much of the North aren’t much colder than cold spells in much of the South.
I can't speak for you guys.....you NE'sters DO complain more than anyone in the country, no matter the weather! Mostly Midwesterners are "hardy".
I'll take 100 degrees and 70% humidity over 40 degrees. I'm not afraid of the cold but I am a lot more comfortable sweating my ass off than I am freezing.
I've lived in Texas all my life & never liked the heat but now summer starts in the beginning of March & it's now April 2nd & it's already 90. I love the cold, & after the worst summer ever last year, I'm ready to move up north! I'm scared of the heat not the cold. You can always bundle up & sit in front of a fire. My pool gets as warm as bath water in August. Not exactly refreshing. Whenever you walk outside from May until November, the heat suffocates you & there is literally no oxygen in the air. You could die because of it & yes, THAT's scary!!
For one thing, you've been watching too much TV. I prefer cool weather, I'm a vegan who's slender & in excellent shape, I was educated in the best school system in Dallas, I'm in no way lost & couldn't care less about the Civil War, I've never flown a flag, & I've been in Texas all my life. I do dislike & avoid bigots & uneducated, negative, & judgemental people.
Same here. By the time I moved away from the Southeast, when summer was creeping in I'd experience a feeling of dread, even fear, of what was coming. And it's no wonder, knowing the next 5-6 months of my life were going to be a guaranteed hell and there was nothing I could do to stop it. Only last summer, I did stop it by leaving that wretched place.
I don’t think there’s any reason to describe those from the North as more hardy. I live in the Boston area, and hear plenty of complaints about both heat and cold. Hot weather or cold, it’s a matter of tolerating unpleasant weather because that’s what it happens to be like in the place where you happen to live. It’s a question of what you get used to, not some innately superior tolerance for extremes of weather. I think Sherbet’s earlier observation that Southerners are “afraid” of the cold for the same reason Northerners are “afraid” of the heat pretty well sums it up.
Annie_himself, regarding your observation about the kind of cold you get with high humidity, I agree that this can be uncomfortable. That dank chill really cuts right through you. Those of us up north are not altogether unfamiliar with that discomfort. We get plenty of that kind of weather, only we get it here in March and April instead of January. You make a good point, though, about the fact that even the deep South, except maybe way down deep into Florida, gets some chilly weather, sometimes even truly cold weather. I’ve met people up this way who seem to have the misconception that the entire South is toasty all year—like a guy I used to work with who thought that average highs in Norfolk (that’s Norfolk, VA) were in the 80’s in January. Not quite. You make a good point, that Southerners do know something of what winter is about. And you’re probably right that average winter days in much of the North aren’t much colder than cold spells in much of the South.
I grew up in Alabama only about 120 miles (crow's flight) inland north of the Gulf of Mexico. I've also lived in one of the coldest locations annually in Colorado (Gunnison) and can attest to dry cold vs. high humidity cold. Despite growing up relatively deep in the Deep South, it was extremely rare to have winters where we failed to go below freezing AT LEAST 20 or 30 times a winter. In fact, it was extremely rare that we didn't go down into the teens for lows at least 4 or more times for lows and we usually had a day or 2 each winter where the highs struggled to go above freezing. During the major cold outbreaks of Dec 1983, January 1985, and Dec 1989 we got into the low single digits with highs in the 20s even only 100 miles north of Mobile. As for snow the conditions have to come together almost perfectly to get measurable snow but despite that I remember MANY 2 and 3 inch snows, a major ice storm, and one amazing blizzard (Superstorm March 1993) growing up in West Central Alabama.
My dad has some hunting buddies from Grand Junction, CO and from the Boston area who come down to our hunting camp in West Central Alabama each January and even they remark how uncomfortable it is when it gets below 40 there. They say 40 degrees at our hunting camp feels like 25 to 30 degrees back home in Colorado.
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