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It's all relative. I understand that it has mild winters by your standards, but by NZ standards it is a cold winter. 7.4C/46F is about the lowest maximum we get for a winter and Portland gets 2 months of it as an average. Combined with 65 hours of sun for Dec- less than half what we get in June, and you get a winter that could never be matched here. Very different cloud as well, and it doesn't really rain properly either.
I had a about 3 weeks in Portland in Jan 1982 (Seattle a few years later) and it was a very different winter experience to what I was used to. Not mild in the way that it is here. I really enjoyed it though. It was beautiful, but days like the one in the pic weren't common. The mountains are a lot closer here.
I hear you, that's why I said you are spoiled by your winter temps.
And since you explained that nowhere in NZ has a high so low it makes sense. To be fair to Portland though, it seems their summers are a bit warmer than where you are.
Am curious what are the sun hours like at the "Top of the South"? Portland gets quite a lot of sun in their summers as well, so the mountains would be visible in summer more often. You are right though the mountains are miles away. I had to walk up a large hill in a neighborhood to see Mt. Hood, but it was amazing when I saw it.
Motueka, Nelson and other northern towns there are also much sunnier than Portland.
Nelson looks beautiful! And if it had avg temps in the 85F range in summer would be paradise to me. Winter looks perfect with highs in the 50's.
Sunshine hours over 2400 is very good for NZ correct?
I see it differently. Portland clearly has a warmer summer and first month of fall. Motueka is warmer in every other month. 5C/10F warmer days is a big difference during winter
You are right Joe. June, July, August and Sept are warmer in Portland, but that is it. Wonder how total sunshine hours compare between your area and Portland?
Yes its true. At first glance it doesn't look all that different temp wise outside of winter but when I crunched the numbers, Motueka was far warmer in all but summer months.
I rated it a C+ when I saw how little snow Portland got in the winter. I thought they received more snow than that, honestly. It definitely fits a niche (a friend of mine moved there because he hated snow but didn't want to deal with summers hotter than his native Midwestern climate) and I could imagine myself possibly living there if I wasn't obsessed with snowy winters.
I rated it a C+ when I saw how little snow Portland got in the winter. I thought they received more snow than that, honestly. It definitely fits a niche (a friend of mine moved there because he hated snow but didn't want to deal with summers hotter than his native Midwestern climate) and I could imagine myself possibly living there if I wasn't obsessed with snowy winters.
True, but the mountains aren't far away. I prefer snowy winters too, but I could definitely live in Portland's climate.
You are right Joe. June, July, August and Sept are warmer in Portland, but that is it. Wonder how total sunshine hours compare between your area and Portland?
It's hard to know what Portland's hours are. A quick goggle search showed 2155 hours, and 2345 hours on a few sites. Going with the later means there is about a 100 hour difference to here (approx 2450 hours), so not a big difference.
There is only a small variation in monthly sunshine percentages here compared to Portland. I don't wish for high sun hours during the hottest part of the year here, with UVI topping out at 13-14 and an average of around 10- 11. It's only at 7 - 9 at present, so no need to reach for the sunblock just yet.
I'd give Portland's climate a B - . I like how the summers are sunny yet not too hot. However, I don't know if I'd be able to endure the dreary, drizzly winters there. I actually wouldn't mind living in Portland. I have a friend who lives across the Columbia River in Vancouver, Washington, and he loves it up there.
Oh, one more thing I wanted to add is that I can't really understand how some people complain and bicker when it rains. Rain isn't like snow that you have to shovel it, it is just water that's all it is. I guess so many are obsessed with needing to see the sun and blue skies EVERY day. Boring! I wish LA had Portland's weather but we don't
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