Philly winters compared to Chicago (Philadelphia, Harrisburg: live, versus, statistics)

[FindingZen]

Let's get back to discussing the winters in Philly and Chicago. There is a separate City vs. City forum for more general comparisons.

[southbound_295]

Originally Posted by Mr Ambitious

I'm wondering how the winters of these two cities compare. I'm from Chicago and currently reside in the twin cities. I'm still trying to decide between DePaul, Loyola(Chicago), and Drexel U to finish my last 1.5 to 2 years of college. While I love Chicago, December through February can be down right brutal at times. The highs below freezing, the unforgiving wind at times. I've heard northeastern winters are milder, but how much. I know I can look up averages, but they only help so much. Has anyone been to Chicago in the winter and can compare these two? Is the difference noticeable? It looks like Philly doesn't average highs below freezing, which is great.

I was born in southwestern lower Michigan. There really isn't much of a comparison. Most snows in Philadelphia come from nor'easters. The local meteorologists will start tracking the storm in NC. They can go out to sea. If it starts snowing in Wilmington it's definitely going to hit.

If the word snow is mentioned everyone runs out to get milk bread & eggs.

That's winter in the MidAtlantic in a nutshell.

[FamousBlueRaincoat]

Originally Posted by Mr Ambitious

I'm wondering how the winters of these two cities compare. I'm from Chicago and currently reside in the twin cities. I'm still trying to decide between DePaul, Loyola(Chicago), and Drexel U to finish my last 1.5 to 2 years of college. While I love Chicago, December through February can be down right brutal at times. The highs below freezing, the unforgiving wind at times. I've heard northeastern winters are milder, but how much. I know I can look up averages, but they only help so much. Has anyone been to Chicago in the winter and can compare these two? Is the difference noticeable? It looks like Philly doesn't average highs below freezing, which is great.

Skipping most of this thread (I don't even want to know how it got to be 3 pages...)...

I lived in Minneapolis for 5 years. Philadelphia is a piece of cake. I didn't even buy a winter coat till I found the perfect one at a thrift store about 3 years after I moved here. People would look at me in my double-upped sweatshirts waiting for the bus and train and ask me what was wrong with me.

It's quite comfortable, and there might be one or two days in a winter that will remind you of Minneapolis (and I assume Chicago - haven't been there in the winter). Maybe. But still nowhere near the extreme wind chill.

Summers though....I really do miss summer in Minneapolis, so rarely uncomfortable, never even tempted to buy an a/c. My wife and I are fond of calling pleasant April or October days "summer in Minneapolis" - perhaps a bit of an exaggeration. But I very much enjoyed them, and my wife (from the Twin Cities), very much did not know what she was getting into when we came here.

[steeps]

Originally Posted by Mr Ambitious

I'm wondering how the winters of these two cities compare. I'm from Chicago and currently reside in the twin cities. I'm still trying to decide between DePaul, Loyola(Chicago), and Drexel U to finish my last 1.5 to 2 years of college. While I love Chicago, December through February can be down right brutal at times. The highs below freezing, the unforgiving wind at times. I've heard northeastern winters are milder, but how much. I know I can look up averages, but they only help so much. Has anyone been to Chicago in the winter and can compare these two? Is the difference noticeable? It looks like Philly doesn't average highs below freezing, which is great.

Odd thread, but you could Search average highs and Lows in the 2 cities in Winter. It is commonly known. Chicago will average Colder and probably more snow. This past year BOTH had terrible COLD winters. Philly had bigger snows then usual. More then further east in PA. Nor'easter's to blame. Not the usual.

The years I lived in Chicago I witnessed very Snowy winters, Those with really no big storms. A year of a lot of Lake effect snow in half of the city and little to none in the suburbs. A year of all the snow that fell stayed till spring LOL, and A mild winter too.

I would go more by University preference. Or go for a MUCH Warmer Winter city.
But for city comparisons. To me Chicago and Philly are much different cities. One is the USA's Row Home Capital city with 65% of the city's housing stock as full blocks of Row homes. Another prevalent style is Double-Homes 2 homes attached then a separation, or Duplexes too in Philly. You will notice mostly lack of alleys as Chicago has a full alleyway system and smaller streets. Especially in Center City compared to downtown Chicago.

So both cities were built differently. I would go by ALSO wanting a new experience too. So if choosing Philly, you might get a different experience then one in the Midwest. But both having winter and one year could be colder then usual, or more snow? You never know. The right year you can beat the odds. Or Go to a No winter city. It helps if you have family or friends in a city too. GOOD LUCK.

[Avalon08]

Originally Posted by steeps

Odd thread, but you could Search average highs and Lows in the 2 cities in Winter. It is commonly known. Chicago will average Colder and probably more snow. This past year BOTH had terrible COLD winters. Philly had bigger snows then usual. More then further east in PA. Nor'easter's to blame. Not the usual.

The years I lived in Chicago I witnessed very Snowy winters, Those with really no big storms. A year of a lot of Lake effect snow in half of the city and little to none in the suburbs. A year of all the snow that fell stayed till spring LOL, and A mild winter too.

I would go more by University preference. Or go for a MUCH Warmer Winter city.
But for city comparisons. To me Chicago and Philly are much different cities. One is the USA's Row Home Capital city with 65% of the city's housing stock as full blocks of Row homes. Another prevalent style is Double-Homes 2 homes attached then a separation, or Duplexes too in Philly. You will notice mostly lack of alleys as Chicago has a full alleyway system and smaller streets. Especially in Center City compared to downtown Chicago.

So both cities were built differently. I would go by ALSO wanting a new experience too. So if choosing Philly, you might get a different experience then one in the Midwest. But both having winter and one year could be colder then usual, or more snow? You never know. The right year you can beat the odds. Or Go to a No winter city. It helps if you have family or friends in a city too. GOOD LUCK.

OMG, here we go with the "row home" discussion again.

For the OP, I'm from Philly originally. If I had to list a "con" of living in Philly, I wouldn't say the winters. Yes, there are anomaly winters where the city gets crucified with snow. These can take the form of annoying light but frequent snowstorms, or two or three blizzards a season, or an occasional ice storm, or the last two years where it seemed to be a combo. Or, you can have a winter with barely any snow.

Without taking into account wind chills -- I'd say the average high in the winter is 30s-40s (I don't have any statistics to bear this out). If it goes down to 20's, then we're having a cold snap. It doesn't go down to the teens or singles often, thank goodness, but it can happen. I definitely wouldn't put Philly winters on a "brutal" level like Chicago or Minneapolis. Just don't yell at us if you get a lot of snow this year -- snow is always a crapshoot.

March can start a beacon of light towards spring, but it can also bring blizzards. Even April, when you're finally dying to hear birds chirping and ditch the wool coat, can still be disappointingly cold.

[discndav]

I grew up and lived 90 miles east of Chicago (with lake effect snow) for 26 years and now have lived near Philly for 25 years. I'd describe the Midwestern winters as an insufferable pain in the ass and the Mid Atlantic winters as tolerable. I bought a snow blower 5 years ago for my driveway and did not use it 3 of those years although the last 2 winters here have been well above average snow fall. Temps generally will get to above freezing most winter days here, can't say that in Chicago. It can be cold here in Philly at times yet with NO SNOW. The length of winter is also a factor, so much longer in Chi-town. Go Cubs....

[Mr Ambitious]

Thanks to everyone who responded. And to steeps, I did research the highs and lows as I stated in a previous post, but they only tell you so much. I wanted input from people who live or have lived in Philly and could actually describe how winter is there. However, I do appreciate your input as well. Based on what I've learned here, Philly experiences a cold winter but its tolerable, which is exactly what I'm looking for. The only thing left to do is experience it first hand. Thanks again.

[Mini-apple-less]

Philly winters are pretty mild compared to Chicago. Quite similar to somewhere like Denver, Albuquerque or Asheville, though perhaps a bit gloomier than the previous two.

[southbound_295]

Originally Posted by Mini-apple-less

Philly winters are pretty mild compared to Chicago. Quite similar to somewhere like Denver, Albuquerque or Asheville, though perhaps a bit gloomier than the previous two.

Actually, Asheville is a reasonable comparison. You can track nor'easters. Atlanta, Greenville, SC, Charlotte, Greensboro, Raleigh, Richmond, DC, Baltimore, Wilmington. Asheville, being in the mountains, can be brushed by a nor'easter but usually isn't in the direct path.

Points further south will track storms out of Texas. They can go straight across Georgia & go out to sea or turn north at Atlanta & become a nor'easter. Tracking storms in the upper Midwest will leave you scratching your head.

[jennifercheswold]

Originally Posted by Mr Ambitious

Thanks to everyone who responded. And to steeps, I did research the highs and lows as I stated in a previous post, but they only tell you so much. I wanted input from people who live or have lived in Philly and could actually describe how winter is there. However, I do appreciate your input as well. Based on what I've learned here, Philly experiences a cold winter but its tolerable, which is exactly what I'm looking for. The only thing left to do is experience it first hand. Thanks again.

Winter in Philly is good and bad. Most of the time, the temps average around high 30s to low 40s during the day. They occasionally dip to the 20s during the day but doesn't happen that often (usually occurs for a week or so at a time). The biggest difference between the winters in Chicago and Philly is that Philly is more "livable" in the winter. You can walk around in Philly without the fear of hypothermia. Chicago's temps can get downright horrible, not even including the wind chill. With Chicago, it's kinda like I don't wanna leave my house unless it's for food or work. In Philly, you can go out and go ice skating in the city or walk in the park or sit outside with a cup of hot coffee. I have friends in Chicago where they were told not to come to work because it was too cold for them to travel. Chicago has sprits where you are told not to go outside for more than 30 minutes. That never, and I mean very rarely ever happens. Philly has more activities to do in the winter. Plus when it snows, you actually get excited instead of stressing about it. Hope this helps!