Considering Relocating to Kansas City/Overland Park - Weather Compared to Chicago (Concord: 2014, schools)

[fuj50]

We're considering relocating from Orange County, CA to the Kansas City area, likely Overland Park. We're originally from the Chicago, IL area, spending about 25 years there.

We've done our research and it seems like OP has everything we like: great schools, dining, close major metropolitan area, international airport, community-focus, etc.

Our concern is weather. I hear mixed things about the weather in the KC area; harsh winters and hot/humid summers. Obviously the weather will be nothing like Orange County. However, being from Chicago, I feel like I've dealt with harsher winters and summers that are likely just as hot/humid. I've read on other threads though about people saying the weather is unbearable. Anyone familiar with both areas that can provide some insight?

Short version: how does the weather in KC compare to Chicago? Same, worse, better?

[Rivertowntalk]

They will move your message as the forum doesn't consider any portion of the Kansas City metro as part of Kansas. Moving to OP would be a good move. Winters in Kansas are milder than Chicago. The past few 3 winters in Kansas have been fairly mild, although there have been a few bad storms.

[Okey Dokie]

KC’s winters can be almost as bad as Chicago’s, but a bad spell is short lived rather than in Chicago where the snow can stick around for a month or more. Conversely, KC can have brutal summers that last for weeks while Chicago’s 90 degree days last a few days then the wind shifts off the lake.

I spent my grade school years in the north suburbs of Chicago and have lived in KC since 1968 so my memory may be a bit faulty, but that’s always been my impression.

[Arrby]

Once will find a great deal of information about many cities, counties, and states right here on the main City-data website. For Overland Park see: //www.city-data.com/city/Overland-Park-Kansas.html . Scroll about 1/3 down this very large page for climate information. You can then look at the same kind of information for Chicago here: //www.city-data.com/city/Chicago-Illinois.html .

While it may be hard to translate any give graph or chart into just how it will feel to you, you can compare one against the other and see the relative climate differences.

Personally, I would not describe the summers in Overland Park as "brutal", but they are going to be as uncomfortable as the worst Chicago summer days, and there will be more of them. Winters are a good deal milder and shorter. However once every few years a really nasty winter storm will blast its way from the Rockies right across Kansas and hit the KC area a hard one.

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by fuj50

We're considering relocating from Orange County, CA to the Kansas City area, likely Overland Park. We're originally from the Chicago, IL area, spending about 25 years there.

We've done our research and it seems like OP has everything we like: great schools, dining, close major metropolitan area, international airport, community-focus, etc.

Our concern is weather. I hear mixed things about the weather in the KC area; harsh winters and hot/humid summers. Obviously the weather will be nothing like Orange County. However, being from Chicago, I feel like I've dealt with harsher winters and summers that are likely just as hot/humid. I've read on other threads though about people saying the weather is unbearable. Anyone familiar with both areas that can provide some insight?

Short version: how does the weather in KC compare to Chicago? Same, worse, better?

There is not much similarity between Chicagoland and KC in terms of weather overall. I have lived in both regions as well as NWI, southern Wisconsin (Madison), and central New Hampshire, (by Concord). Chicagoland has four distinct seasons with mild/warm summer and consistently cold winter usually unlike KC. Chicagoland is also quite a bit cooler during the "shoulder" seasons of Spring and Autumn. Both can see abrupt temperature swings with Plains/Prairie fronts. KC has far worse heat and humidity than Chicagoland, and yes it can be extremely brutal, meaning heat index readings in excess of 110 to 115F during some periods of time. Chicago has seen this before, heat wave of 1995, but not common like in KC. KC residents behave exactly like southerners when it comes to snowfall as many become quite dramatic over a small amount predicted, even in January. KC is much more aligned with the South when it comes to winter, and not the Midwest in this regard.

[James Bond 007]

Don't know about anywhere else, but so far in my <2 years here in KC, one thing I've noticed is, both spring and fall seem to be pretty short. "Spring" lasts from about early April maybe through the first week of May, and then it starts to get more summer-y. "Fall" is maybe a bit longer (but then again, my experience is brief so far) lasting from early October to mid-November. November seems to be almost as much of a "fall-esque" month as is October. In that regard it almost reminds me a bit of Charlotte, where I've also lived. In Charlotte, November is the autumnal month, October is still pretty summer-y for the most part.

[TabulaRasa]

Originally Posted by fuj50

We're considering relocating from Orange County, CA to the Kansas City area, likely Overland Park. We're originally from the Chicago, IL area, spending about 25 years there.

We've done our research and it seems like OP has everything we like: great schools, dining, close major metropolitan area, international airport, community-focus, etc.

Our concern is weather. I hear mixed things about the weather in the KC area; harsh winters and hot/humid summers. Obviously the weather will be nothing like Orange County. However, being from Chicago, I feel like I've dealt with harsher winters and summers that are likely just as hot/humid. I've read on other threads though about people saying the weather is unbearable. Anyone familiar with both areas that can provide some insight?

Short version: how does the weather in KC compare to Chicago? Same, worse, better?

I'm a northern Illinois native and former Chicago resident who has lived in KC for the past decade.

I would absolutely not deem winters in KC harsh, from an upper Midwest perspective. I haven't owned a "proper" winter coat in a decade (i.e.down-fillled, puffy parka style). A lightweight peacoat style has sufficed, and often, a heavy fleece has been sufficient. Last winter, we had two days of measurable snowfall. Two. Ice/freezing rain is a more frequent winter hassle, TBH. But winter is a piece of cake, compared to Chicago My husband and I spent winter of 2013-2014 (i.e.the winter of the "polar vortex") on Lake Michigan, while my husband instructed at Naval Station Great Lakes, near North Chicago. He's a KC native and was shellshocked by the extremes.

Summer here can be grossly humid, yes, but IMO, no worse than the frequent gross summer humidity of northern Illinois.

Easier winters, comparable enough summers.

Spring is absolutely beautiful. Many flowering trees that can't live further north. It warms up fast. Fall is okay. It is my favorite season, and it can be borderline nonexistent, here, because it just ends up being extended summer into October, this year is a good example. What I'm used to as autumn crispness is basically an average winter temp. The foliage colors are so-so. One thing that is very pretty in fall, though, are the Tallgrass prairies and Flint Hills west of KC.

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by TabulaRasa

I'm a northern Illinois native and former Chicago resident who has lived in KC for the past decade.

I would absolutely not deem winters in KC harsh, from an upper Midwest perspective. I haven't owned a "proper" winter coat in a decade (i.e.down-fillled, puffy parka style). A lightweight peacoat style has sufficed, and often, a heavy fleece has been sufficient. Last winter, we had two days of measurable snowfall. Two. Ice/freezing rain is a more frequent winter hassle, TBH. But winter is a piece of cake, compared to Chicago My husband and I spent winter of 2013-2014 (i.e.the winter of the "polar vortex") on Lake Michigan, while my husband instructed at Naval Station Great Lakes, near North Chicago. He's a KC native and was shellshocked by the extremes.

Summer here can be grossly humid, yes, but IMO, no worse than the frequent gross summer humidity of northern Illinois.

Easier winters, comparable enough summers.

Spring is absolutely beautiful. Many flowering trees that can't live further north. It warms up fast. Fall is okay. It is my favorite season, and it can be borderline nonexistent, here, because it just ends up being extended summer into October, this year is a good example. What I'm used to as autumn crispness is basically an average winter temp. The foliage colors are so-so. One thing that is very pretty in fall, though, are the Tallgrass prairies and Flint Hills west of KC.

I would say that the average summer temperatures between KC and Chicago are in no way comparable at all. KC has months and months of hot/warm weather with humidity. Chicago has a few day stretches of very hot/warm weather or perhaps a week/two at a time at the most.

[kcmo]

Chicago has brutal winters, but their summers are amazing. If weather was the deciding factor, I would go with KC though. Nothing too extreme and some really nice spring/fall seasons. The Kansas side is very windy, especially out by the speedway area. I think KS is more windy than the Windy City. I hate constant wind like that. Most of the Missouri side does not get that constant wind like that. Other than that, the weather across the metro seems to be about the same although it seems like the more flat parts of the metro are much more prone to tornadoes actually touching down and staying down rather than bouncing around or not touching down at all. Not that tornadoes are an issue. They really aren't in KC but you will have lots of warnings etc.

[SPonteKC]

Originally Posted by kcmo

The Kansas side is very windy, especially out by the speedway area...Most of the Missouri side does not get that constant wind like that.

You’re off your rocker.