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D+. Very nice summer temps but quite rainy (weird that it seems to have a summer precipitation peak). The main problem is the cold, gloomy winters.
That's not weird for central Europe - half a dozen summer thunderstorms can easily get you up to more rain than 10-12 winter days with drizzle or snow flurries. Plus they do still get frontal rain in summer.
C+. A better climate than I thought could be found in Germany. Summers look good with a nice mixture of rain and temps. Winter seems a little gloomy,but this climate is not too bad overall.
I'm surprised at the negative comments - this is known as the best climate Germany has to offer! I'm going on my own experience in having spent a month there in summer more so than the stats alone but I'd give it a B+. Summers in the comfortably warm range with the odd cooler, wetter day thrown into the mix plus a few good thunderstorms, plus four proper seasons with enough of a break between any extreme weather. I didn't know it was prone to fog (makes sense with being in a valley on the edge of the Black Forest) but I like autumn/winter fog so that's a plus point too. Going a bit off-topic but it is actually a really beautiful city, which increases the enjoyment of being there.
D+. Very nice summer temps but quite rainy (weird that it seems to have a summer precipitation peak). The main problem is the cold, gloomy winters.
Most places with cold winters and warm summers have precipitation peak in the summer due to downpours/thunderstorms in summer, and colder, drier air in winter. Even here our driest month is February and August is the wettest.
Most places with cold winters and warm summers have precipitation peak in the summer due to downpours/thunderstorms in summer, and colder, drier air in winter. Even here our driest month is February and August is the wettest.
It can get a little more complicated though. Admittedly the rainfall variations are rather small anyway, but in locations near and east of NZ's alps the exposure or lack of it to onshore easterly rains or montane northwesterly spillover causes the seasons of maxima and minima to vary quite a lot in timing. (Not that I'm claiming the annual temperature range is all that great). At Tekapo village where the mean winter temperature is 2.5C (1.7C in July) winter is significantly wetter than summer, which is the driest season. However in some places as little as only 20km away east of a high range of foothills the wettest months are in early summer and can be almost twice as wet as the driest ones (in midwinter).
I know the UK is on the cloudy side, but I didn't realize even far south Germany was also. I guess except for the Med, Europe is far cloudier than the US.
Winters here are not too bad, the rest a little too cool. I'd say D+.
I've never been able to track down a Europe-wide sunshine map (probably because there's no Europe-wide weather service) but Germany is not really that much sunnier than us on average, take a look:
and for France, which is notably sunnier (I couldn't fully explain why):
I've never been able to track down a Europe-wide sunshine map (probably because there's no Europe-wide weather service) but Germany is not really that much sunnier than us on average, take a look:
and for France, which is notably sunnier (I couldn't fully explain why):
You're right. It seems the same as England pretty much. Both Germany and France are considerably less sunny than the US based on your maps. I never knew that and assumed France and Germany were similar to where I live. I heard Paris was cloudy, but assumed that was due to the location in the northwest of the country near the coast.
Based on my interactions with other Americans, I live in what is considered a more cloudy part of the US, and our sun hours are considerably higher than the sunniest part of Germany. We are around 2500-2600 hours annually where I live. Even in France, the only areas that are similar to my area is the extreme south by the Med. Generally speaking, the entire Great Plains, the SW, the South, and the West get more hours than my area. Compared to Germany and a lot of France, even the PNW is sunnier with places like Portland, OR getting 2300 hours. Kansas City, MO gets around 2800 hours. Heck, even Buffalo NY and Seattle get around 2200 hours.
My former boss is from Denver, and he always complained about the lack of sun in Philly. He should spend some time in Germany.
I'm impressed how big the contrast in sunshine there is between Southern France and Northern France. Part of the country is much sunnier than I'm used and most of the rest is much cloudier than I'm used to (I get 2400-2500 hours) There's very little in between. It's as if there are two Frances, climate-wise.
I'm puzzled that the PNW is only slightly cloudier than New England. Maybe the sunny summers make up for the gloominess of the rest of the year?
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