Possible Relocation--From Olympia (WA) to Madison

[Chelito23]

Originally Posted by Tootenstein

From Georgia. And yes, I've only been in Wisconsin for a few years, but my statements on the weather here right now are holding up well this summer so far. It seems like it hasn't rained at all here for weeks and it's sunny almost every day, while there have been plenty of storms going through the southeast (like usual).

Also, the past 2 weeks or so temperatures have been higher here than in Georgia/South Carolina and even Florida. Last week we were up to 100+ for a few days while it was 10 degrees cooler down there. Even now that it's cooled down some, the weather today has been close to 90 here and sunny, and close to 80 in the Atlanta area and rainy.

If Wisconsin truly does have cool summers every once in a while, I can't wait to experience one. I know they're short(er) than summers in the south, but they're just as hot so far for me.

I can vouch the Wisconsin summers can really go either way. We do also have some posters that try to portray Madison as the North Slope of Alaska...and exagerte. There are some summers with only a handful of 90 degree days, but what the posters who mention this omit to say is that there are still plenty of upper 80s and humid days...so it's not that much of a difference.

I would basically describe a "typical" Madison summer like this: 3-4 mild days in he low 80s and not too humid, about 2 hot days in the 90s and humid ending with thunderstorms, then the mild cycle starts again. And yes, it usually is sunny in the summer. However, there are stormy periods or patterns when there have been thunderstorms and flooding for a week, and when that happens, it isn't overly out of the ordinary, as it usually happens every summer for a week or two...

This summer is unique in that the heat is very intense and there is a severe drought going on at the same time. Just like the South can have heat waves and droughts, so can we. A testament to the usually reliable summer rains are the farmers whose crops are drying and dying because they have historiclly been able to get away without irrigation machines and have sucessful crops. But for all we know, this could be the new normal....but trust me, sooner or later you will experience a very stormy and milder summer...it is very random and you never know how it will be in advance.

[Megan1967]

Originally Posted by Chelito23

...it is very random and you never know how it will be in advance.

My Dad used to joke that in Wisconsin, if you didn't like the weather, just wait 5 minutes. (Implying it was that unpredictable.)

I'm one of the people who portray (and believe it to be true) WI winters as tundra like. This last winter was dreamy, however. I only shoveled 3 times! (I should have shoveled 2 more times, but I waited for it to melt instead.) I am not thrilled with the drought and worry about both the farmers and the wild animals whose water resources are drying up, but otherwise, I'm all for this freakishly warm weather. I realize there are bigger concerns climatically, but there isn't much I can do about it, so I choose to enjoy it.

Good point about the humidity, too, Chelito. 88 with 50% humidity feels pretty oppressive. Actually, all of these days in the 90's haven't seemed nearly as bad to me because there has been very little humidity.