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I have lived in the Bay Area of California my whole life...the February temps here are usually around 60 degrees during the day and around 40 as an overnight low.
February of 2012, I spent a week in Hawaii with temps in the 80s. Snorkeled, lived in my swimsuit, and walked and swam around the beach all day.... Got back to the Bay Area and 50 degrees felt freezing for a couple of days afterwards. I normally wear a sweater at 50 degrees but needed a jacket the day after I got back. Took a couple of days to get comfy in 50 degree weather again....
February of 2013, I spent a week in NYC with temps ranging from the upper teens to the lower 30s...I walked around outside the entire day, leaving the hotel at 9AM and not coming back til around midnight... Walked around Times Square, Central Park, Financial District, Greenwich, and spent a day at Bronx Zoo (so pretty with snow) and wandered around mostly on foot. The cold wasn't as uncomfortable as I thought it would be since I was wearing 4 layers, gloves, and boots. The worst part was going into stores and sweating with all those layers on. It was kind of fun to walk around and watch my breath puff in front of me (here in the Bay Area, you can only see that on when you deliberately exhale on the colder mornings and then it warms up by 10AM).
When I got back to the Bay Area, it was in the lower 50s the next day which is cooler than average for us but 50 degrees felt like really really warm after a week of temps in the 20s. I was laughing at people when they said it was cold as if I had grown up in a four seasons climate when in reality I only spent a week in NYC... and I would have said 50 degrees was cold just two weeks prior... I was wearing a tee shirt while I normally would wear a sweater at 50 degrees..
After a week back in Calif, 50 degrees felt cold again...
Is it really possible that I acclimated with just that week vacation in both cases? Or am a rare case? I thought it took YEARS to adjust to a new climate...
Am I like really full of ****? I haven't travelled much before the past two years as I didn't have much money til then and as a kid, our family only vacationed within the state.
Last edited by AdriannaSmiling; 03-05-2013 at 01:00 AM..
But there has to be a limit to acclimatization. People say us Californians are wimpy with cold which is why I was surprised that I could be so comfy in 20 degree temps in NYC. I wonder if temps had been 0 or lower, if I wouldn't be able to handle it and spend most of my time indoors. I got to try vacationing in Minneapolis next January...I heard Mall of America is really nice and then I could step outside to experience 20 below zero just to see what the heck it feels like...
I think your expeirence is normal, it takes me minimal time to adjust, though i have to confess i NEVER fully adjust to a hot climate.
Example: Last september/october i was in Europe. Started with Rome, wich was having perfectly comfortable sunny temperatures and it only took me half a day to adjust to it. Days were around 25/27c (high 70s) and nights around 18/21c (low 70s). It was warmer than i was getting back in BA (late winter with temps around 18/20c as hghs) but since it was comfortable i had no problem, just walked around with light clothes.
After Rome i went further south, to Sorrento, and we had an entire week with temps above 30c (90f)! gotta admit never got adjusted to that at all, and after a week i was ready to go into cold Paris, we even got a couple of days with 36c temps in Sorrento!!! Good thing is that nights did cool off for being next to the ocean, it cool off more than summer here in BA, but i still felt heated after spending 1 or 2 days with temps above 30c. But this happens to me here too: i cant get used to hot temperatures even if i live a 5 month-summer. I will never feel that 30c is comfortable just cause i get used to it.
After Sorrento i went to Paris, wich was MUCH colder, with highs around 12-16 (high 50s) and lows around 10c (low 50s), and i got used to it instantly...i think it took me minutes to get used to that weather (wich is VERY comfortable to walk around) and escape the unbearable heat from Sorrento.
After spending 5 days in Paris with very comfortable non-hot, non-cold temperatures, i went into Amsterdam wich was much cooler. Mostly highs were below 10c (below 50f), and lows around 7c (lower 40s). One day our high was 7c! Anyways, i got used to this pretty quickly too, it helped that amsterdam was abnormally sunny on the entire week we were there!!
Conclusion: I seem to adjust pretty fast to climate except is a hot climate
But there has to be a limit to acclimatization. People say us Californians are wimpy with cold which is why I was surprised that I could be so comfy in 20 degree temps in NYC. I wonder if temps had been 0 or lower, if I wouldn't be able to handle it and spend most of my time indoors. I got to try vacationing in Minneapolis next January...I heard Mall of America is really nice and then I could step outside to experience 20 below zero just to see what the heck it feels like...
when i was in minneapolis in january 2000, i ve never been there and never have experienced a similar temperature to that, and i was shocked to see it was not that bad!! Minn was pretty sunny too. I mean, it feels weird at first, but then you get used to it and can walk around easily. I walked around and watch those ice sculptures!!
I remmeber the windy/gloomy/rainy 4c days in Mar del plata being much more uncomfortable than a sunny, crispy, non-windy -15 c in Minneapolis!!
Sounds like I'm not the only one who adjusted instantly...
It just seemed really weird that the EXACT same temperature could feel really cold one year and really warm the next when I lived in the same climate my whole life...
I should add that I'm also a really outdoorsy if that makes a difference...take long walks most mornings and hike on the weekends....can't stand to stay inside all day
Last edited by AdriannaSmiling; 03-05-2013 at 12:40 AM..
when i was in minneapolis in january 2000, i ve never been there and never have experienced a similar temperature to that, and i was shocked to see it was not that bad!! Minn was pretty sunny too. I mean, it feels weird at first, but then you get used to it and can walk around easily. I walked around and watch those ice sculptures!!
I remmeber the windy/gloomy/rainy 4c days in Mar del plata being much more uncomfortable than a sunny, crispy, non-windy -15 c in Minneapolis!!
-15C is around 5 F I believe...which is still above 0 F.. Minneapolis can get down to -40 F some winters....
Just curious to see what that would feel like.
Coldest I've ever experienced before was around 15 F (-8 C?? I think). It was on a ski trip to Lake Tahoe. I know that's not very cold at all... -40 is like 55 degrees colder than I ever felt..It would be like the difference between 15 and 70 or 50 and 105.
Last edited by AdriannaSmiling; 03-05-2013 at 12:53 AM..
I think it got to be less than -20 when i was there, but i cant say for sure how much less. At one point there was a storm and temps were really low, said the tv. But this happened many years ago, i cant be accurate at how exactly temp was back then, all i can say it that it was really really cold and huge chances are that i ve expereinced -20 and -30 days.
I was there all january and february
I think it got to be less than -20 when i was there, but i cant say for sure how much less. At one point there was a storm and temps were really low, said the tv. But this happened many years ago, i cant be accurate at how exactly temp was back then, all i can say it that it was really really cold and huge chances are that i ve expereinced -20 and -30 days.
I was there all january and february
2 months is a long trip.....is there anything else to do in Minneapolis besides there Mall of America and seeing ice sculptures? I am serious about taking a 3-4 day trip there next January. I hope it hits well below zero F just to see what it FEELS like. I love living in California but want to see the rest of the U.S. In a few years, if I'm doing well financially, I'd like to travel the world .
Some parts can adjust quickly, other parts take a year or so.
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gotta admit never got adjusted to that at all, and after a week i was ready to go into cold Paris, we even got a couple of days with 36c temps in Sorrento!!!
Good thing is that nights did cool off for being next to the ocean, it cool off more than summer here in BA, but i still felt heated after spending 1 or 2 days with temps above 30c. But this happens to me here too: i cant get used to hot temperatures even if i live a 5 month-summer. I will never feel that 30c is comfortable just cause i get used to it.
) and escape the unbearable heat from Sorrento.
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