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The winters are certainly much weaker than the summers here. I'll rate it. The winters are too warm, with temperatures averaging above 30F all winter, and average lows not going much below 20F. On top of that there's a seasonal lag (34/24F for December just isn't good as an average, no matter the variation), and extreme record highs that make summer-like weather possible at any point in the winter. It reminds me of Chicago, temperature-wise, except that the record lows are colder. On the plus side there is a lot of snow here, and I imagine the chances of a White Christmas are better than Chicago. 144 inches per year of snow is something really good. On the other hand, it gets a lot of rain in winter. 10 days with rain and about 2 inches of the stuff is far too much for midwinter. If anything the winter variability would make it worse, with persistent warm spells being all too common.
The summers are something really awful here, featuring constant heat and humidity with no possibility of any relief. The record low of 58F in August is a joke when it comes to any break from the heat. That's a hardcore summer right there. Conversely, I actually like the extreme record highs in summer. It adds more interest and variability to the "horrible season". Passing extreme heat milestones is far more interesting than seeing if you can get to 99F as opposed to 98F after you've been stuck there for two weeks.
Precipitation overall is high, but it's nothing that I would mind. Sunshine is too high overall, though it is quite extreme from winter (good) to summer (bad).
This is a climate that's definitely biased towards heat, not that there's anything wrong with that aside from me not liking it. Every climate I try to make ends up being subarctic, so I can understand your own biases, plus what you'd like in a continental climate. It certainly is an interesting climate, though. With the exception of summer cool spells, any sort of weather can occur there.
I have to give this climate a C-. As Nivalis said, it has great and awful weather mixed together, and since the winters are often spoiled and the summers are constantly hot, I knock down the grade one notch from C neutral to C-.
I'll rate it. The winters are too warm, with temperatures averaging above 30F all winter, and average lows not going much below 20F. On top of that there's a seasonal lag (34/24F for December just isn't good as an average, no matter the variation), and extreme record highs that make summer-like weather possible at any point in the winter. It reminds me of Chicago, temperature-wise, except that the record lows are colder. On the plus side there is a lot of snow here, and I imagine the chances of a White Christmas are better than Chicago. 144 inches per year of snow is something really good. On the other hand, it gets a lot of rain in winter. 10 days with rain and about 2 inches of the stuff is far too much for midwinter. If anything the winter variability would make it worse, with persistent warm spells being all too common.
The winter average temperature is -2.4°C / 27.7°F.
There were 26 white Christmases between 1980-2011, so 81% of all years has a white Christmas. The second half of December is far colder than the first half on average. There are really no persistent warm spells in winter, sometimes the temperature reaches in to the 50's or up to 60 for a few days but quickly becomes very cold again. Only very rarely has there been a notable warm spell in winter when the temperature got way above average. Say only 2 years out of 32 for each winter month.
Thundersnow is a common occurrence in winter. According to the stats colder winters tend to be dryer and milder ones snowier.
The coldest month on record was February 2007 with a mean average temperature of -13.2°C / 8.2°F. It was one of the least snowy winter months on record with only 18cm of snow.
The hottest month on record was July 2003 with a mean average temperature of 33.1°C / 91.6°F. It was the driest summer month on record with only 43mm of rain.
Extreme cold or heat is generally produced by persistent blocking high pressure and thus tends to be very dry conditions.
FYI the snowiest month on record was February 1988, with 235cm of snow; the mean temperature was 1.1°C / 34.0°F that month (avg is -1.8°C / 28.8°F).
Last edited by Weatherfan2; 08-08-2012 at 07:48 AM..
The winter average temperature is -2.4°C / 27.7°F.
I was speaking about the high temperatures .
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There were 26 white Christmases between 1980-2011, so 81% of all years has a white Christmas. The second half of December is far colder than the first half on average.
I figured the chances were high, and the second half of December is good news. I, however, like early December to be wintry too, and that sort of spoils that special time of year (late Nov/early Dec).
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There are really no persistent warm spells in winter, sometimes the temperature reaches in to the 50's or up to 60 for a few days but quickly becomes very cold again.
That's still too much for me, but thanks for the clarification.
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Only very rarely has there been a notable warm spell in winter when the temperature got way above average. Say only 2 years out of 32 for each winter month.
2 out of 32 isn't exactly "very rare". That's too much for me - I require 0 out of 32 with averages like that. Again, though, thanks for clarifying it.
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Thundersnow is a common occurrence in winter.
Hmm...that sweetens the deal...
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According to the stats colder winters tend to be dryer and milder ones snowier.
...but that's not as good. As soon as the temperatures get to be suitable for some good stuff with no thawing there's less snow .
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The coldest month on record was February 2007 with a mean average temperature of -13.2°C / 8.2°F. It was one of the least snowy winter months on record with only 18cm of snow.
The hottest month on record was July 2003 with a mean average temperature of 33.1°C / 91.6°F. It was the driest summer month on record with only 43mm of rain.
Extreme cold or heat is generally produced by persistent blocking high pressure and thus tends to be very dry conditions.
Nice explanation.
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FYI the snowiest month on record was February 1988, with 235cm of snow; the mean temperature was 1.1°C / 34.0°F that month (avg is -1.8°C / 28.8°F).
Just as I suspected. With the sweeteners and the anti-sweeteners in the new information, my previous grade still stands. Despite that, I think it's good that you provided us with more information.
Big cold snaps are usually preceded by a heavy snow fall so even in the long cold periods with no falling snow there is plenty of snow piled up to play with.
Annoying thawing and re-freezing of snow/ice can be common in milder winter months.
weird climate.... It gets C because of it's awful summer temperature. Where is it located anyway??
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