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Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
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I think where you grow up markedly influences the types of climates you find preferable...
Either because of what you're used to, or because you think the 'grass is greener' on the other side.
I would say growing up my whole life in Perth has made me take warm, sunny weather for granted. Perth has no real winter to speak of, so I don't have much experience of what a cold winter feels like (the closest is NZ in July or China in December). Maybe I was under-dressed, but I felt uncomfortable, especially on the exposed parts of my skin. It was only about -5 to 5C, and still it didn't feel nice being out for LONG periods.
Also, although I complain about the incessant sunniness of our Mediterranean climate, I remember when I was visiting the south island of NZ, or even Melbourne, and felt depressed because the sun would be hidden for days. Even in the dead of our wet winter we at least see a bit of sun every day, so it was weird not seeing the sun. Again, I'm used to experiencing 3000+ hours of sun a year as 'normal.'
On the other hand, I think living in Perth has made me crave a bit more summer rain. Not a monsoonal climate, but perhaps something approaching Sydney (although come to think even Sydney is a bit cloudy. Maybe the rainfall of Sydney with slightly fewer rainy days/more sun).
Travel has also exposed me to many climates...I wouldn't want to live in either Singapore or Boston, for the opposite reasons (yes Boston is cold for me). Ultimately I prefer moderate climates with a mix of sun and rain, although it's fun to experience extremes now and then.
I didn't really grow up in one spot, but I'd say I've spent about 70% of my life in oceanic climates. And here I am again ( sigh ).
Oceanic climates are never really good, but rarely awful. They have somewhat spoiled me in terms of perpetual green - I find the "mud month" of melting snow and yellow grass a slap in the face after enduring the cold winter of a true continental climate. I remember as a child in P.E.I. being somewhat baffled that the grass wasn't green when the snow finally melted in April, as I was used to the rather more episodic snow spells of oceanic climates.
I don't really understand why I have a very high heat threshold - I'd have thought spots like west-coast Canada and England would have unfitted me for it.
The biggest complaint about Oceanic climates is one I'm not very troubled by, on the whole: cloudiness. Yes, I prefer sunnier climates, but even Glasgow's sunshine levels would be eminently worth the trade off IF they came with reliably pleasant, warm weather and not a lot of wind-blown drizzle. Take out the pollution factor, and give me Chongqing over "sunny" Calgary any day.
I'd also prefer more rainfall/afternoon storms in summer, some cloud is fine by me in the warmer months - helps protect you a bit from the intense sunshine. I also crave colder winters, preferably averaging above freezing but with the odd cold snap, whilst retaining good sunshine hours.
I guess my experience living/growing up in Perth has made me crave for a bit more variety in day-to-day and seasonal weather.
I don't think there's any real pattern that I can tell. Some people love the sort of climate they're used to, some people hate it and either complain or leave. Some people spend most of their time indoors anyways so it doesn't matter much. Personally, I hate the climate I grew up in (north central Texas), and will never go back there between May and October if I can help it. Obviously most people from that area don't run off to coastal Alaska to escape the heat and make up for all the winters they missed.
I don't think there's any real pattern that I can tell. Some people love the sort of climate they're used to, some people hate it and either complain or leave. Some people spend most of their time indoors anyways so it doesn't matter much.
Exactly. From my "research", the climate one grows up in has next to no effect on climate preferences. There are a few exceptions. If one doesn't have a lot of information or experience regarding climate the preferences can be fuzzy or ill-formed but the general inclination always remains the same, for instance if someone has never experienced temperatures below freezing that same someone wouldn't have a good idea whether he'd like or be averse to subzero temperatures for instance. But he would have a good idea he liked chilly weather if when it got down to 50F he was more comfortable than he ever felt in his life while his other tropical denizens were shivering.
The place one grows up in also influences expectations and what one is used to, but not to the extent that climate preference is just what you're used to. For explanation, snow melting and revealing brown grass would be a novelty and something odd to one that is used to green grass, but the fact that one is used to green grass doesn't mean one likes it. The same applies to snow and ice fog for people from southern climates, as well as powdery snow from some quarters. On the other side the unending heat and tropical-like haze of some locations would be jarring to someone from a northern climate. Some people may go to southern climates that are under the heat ridge for most of the summer and expect for there to be a severe thunderstorm outbreak because it's so hot and humid (like it would operate back in the homeland) but nothing ever happens. The list goes on and on of experiences that would be jarring because of what one is used to, but that don't mean that the jarring is in a bad way or that one would automatically dislike it because that's what one was used to.
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Originally Posted by tigre79
Obviously most people from that area don't run off to coastal Alaska to escape the heat and make up for all the winters they missed.
Just as most people from the North Slope don't move to Texas to escape the cold and make up for all the summers they missed. There are many other factors besides climate that would keep a person in a climate they hate. Case in point: all the New Yorkers that hate their climate that want to move to Florida, and all the Floridians that hate their climate that want to move to New York. Though I will add the Floridians that move for winters and snow typically move farther north than places like Cleveland or Pittsburgh, where the love affair with Florida seems to be greatest (with good reason because those places actually aren't good for snow, especially versus places like Saranac Lake and Houghton).
The most notable effect on myself of growing up in Nice is that I find any lack of sunshine in summer in temperate climates absolutely disgusting (especially when coupled with cool, wet conditions). Summer in Nice is abundantly sunny and is at least partly cloudy 99% of the time (there is almost never a single overcast summer day I believe) and features blue dome days routinely, perhaps as often as half of all days.
Just look at that spectacular stretch of days with more than 10 or even 12 hours of bright sunshine in July 2010 (right column), almost 28 days in a row: Meteociel - Climatologie mensuelle de Nice
Needless to say, rain is very rare in this season.
So when I find myself in a temperate climate and it's overcast or raining in summer, I can simply not tolerate it (e.g. 16°C and raining in London in July; 19°C and raining in Budapest in August) - I'm used to a climate where winter is quite crappy but summer has guaranteed warmth and abundant sunshine, so I find it somehow depressing when I'm in a place where winter is also crappy, often much worse (anywhere in Europe) BUT summer can also have bad, cold, gloomy, wet days! It makes me think that no moment in the year is guaranteed good weather, which I find sad
Of course, tropical climates are really different, because there is no winter or summer; temperature is always excellent and if one days lacks sunshine in "summer" it doesn't really matter because "summer" is not a particularly good "season" (usually the time of high sun is even the worst, wettest part of the year) and it's the "dry season" which has guaranteed warmth AND sunshine. As for equatorial climates, they have no season at all, so every day of the year can potentially witness heavy rain or strong sunshine, so when a day is bad just wait for the next.
The most notable effect on myself of growing up in Nice is that I find any lack of sunshine in summer in temperate climates absolutely disgusting (especially when coupled with cool, wet conditions).
The most notable effect on myself of growing up in the north of England is that to me mostly overcast skies and moderate temperatures are just the normal background all year round and summer is the time of year when we could get some prolonged warm and settled 'summery' weather (and we almost always do get some), not when we guaranteed will. Ditto for winters only with snow/icy weather as the occasional exception to the rule. I definitely feel I'm a product of my environment in terms of climate preferences. (It always makes me smile when people hold London up as an example of a terrible climate for its low sunshine totals and cool summer weather as coming from somewhere both cooler and gloomier that has never been my perception of the place)
I don't think I would have even have properly noticed the really cool, wet and overcast skies of the first fortnight of June if not from how statistically remarkable it has been - it would bother me a bit if it went on all summer (which it almost certainly won't), but growing up where I did I just accept that cool, overcast weather is really not any further from the long-term averages in this country than the heatwaves some people seem to expect and I don't think much more about it. Experiencing a Nice summer in Nice is one thing but if we had months on end of 30C/sunny and dry weather here although there's plenty to enjoy about it and get interested by it I'd actually be quite relieved to see the end of it as it just wouldn't feel right.
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