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And with NYC being consistently warmer (slightly), it has the edge in my opinion. And it seems as though most would agree, based on the poll results.
I did my Masters in Chicago, and stayed thru most of the 3 summers. As a native NYer I also feel that NY summers are worse, yet what I feel, or what the poll shows is unscientific and unreliable.
The topic here is about the WORSE HEAT, which to me means the extreme. The topic however is not "which one is warmer."
I believe the scientific and historic data, so as George shows, Chicago has worse heat. And I have no problem with that.
I did my Masters in Chicago, and stayed thru most of the 3 summers. As a native NYer I also feel that NY summers are worse, yet what I feel, or what the poll shows is unscientific and unreliable.
The topic here is about the WORSE HEAT, which to me means the extreme. The topic however is not "which one is warmer."
I believe the scientific and historic data, so as George shows, Chicago has worse heat. And I have no problem with that.
That's fair, but "worse heat" to me meant which one feels hotter throughout the summer, and based on the average conditions I chose NYC. There's a minuscule difference between the two though.
On paper Chicago looks slightly more tolerable. When I was in NYC it was pretty damn hot, highs up to 35C with humidity, but some mild days in the 20s.
Chicagogeorge has a good point that often it's Chicago's suburbs where the worst heat is, whereas NYC itself is the hottest part of its metro area. Nevertheless, if we're comparing just the two cities themselves and nothing else outside the city limits, I believe NYC has considerably worse summers. There's practically no relief. Even looking at Chicago's climate data from July 1936 that chicagogeorge posted, one thing that's noticeable besides the heat is many cooler low temperatures that you'd never see in a NYC July. Even July 1936 in Chicago offered more relief at night from the heat than a typical NYC July!
Chicagogeorge has a good point that often it's Chicago's suburbs where the worst heat is, whereas NYC itself is the hottest part of its metro area. Nevertheless, if we're comparing just the two cities themselves and nothing else outside the city limits, I believe NYC has considerably worse summers. There's practically no relief.
I think the advantage NYC has in summer heat belongs in the minimum temps, in terms of averages however, I can't say with any certainty that the extreme high minimum temps surpasses Chicago's. There usually is a large difference between city low temps and our suburban low temps in the summer
Quote:
Even looking at Chicago's climate data from July 1936 that chicagogeorge posted, one thing that's noticeable besides the heat is many cooler low temperatures that you'd never see in a NYC July. Even July 1936 in Chicago offered more relief at night from the heat than a typical NYC July!
If I was to compare Chicago city limits with the suburbs, Chicago would have higher low temps, but the suburbs west/south away from the cooling effects of the lake would have higher maximum temps (usually).
Here was Jul 2012. Highest temps were in the western suburbs,though Midway did hit 105F
Even though summer 2012 was a drought summer in the Midwest, we dealt with bouts of humidity which elevated nightly minimums
As for the heat have of the 1930's you have to remember that was the Dust Bowl. Chicagoland experienced dry heat much more regularly the the Gulf Coast humid variety at that time. We had higher max temps, but minimum temps dropped off at night.
Here is the data for July 1936 at the UofC about 1 mile from Lake Michigan, and Midway, which is about 10 miles from the lake. Pretty big difference in both max and minimum temps
Here is comparison of short duration heatwaves along with accompanying dew points. As you can see, the Dust Bowl years weren't nearly as humid as recent heat waves
here is a comparison between Midway and the station closest to my suburb (Bourbannais) during the summer of 1988
and west suburban Wheaton
Notice, 61 90 degree days that year. Newark had 54 in 2010 which is their greatest number
If I'm not mistaken, the hottest summer in NYC history was the summer of 2010. If so, the maximum temps for the three month period fall behind Chicago's hottest summer which was 1988.
Three month average max
Midway: 87.8F
LaGuardia: 86.7F
My suburb: 90.5F
Newark does better with an average max of 87.9F
I also still have a hard time conceding that NYC is more sultry in the summer. My suburb in July 2011. Notice the average max dew points for the month.
Average high: 90.9F
Mean: 80.1F
Average low: 71.1F
Average max dew point: 72.9F
Last edited by chicagogeorge; 12-21-2013 at 10:49 AM..
Logically one would think Chicago since New York City has the breezes of the ocean, but the ocean currents are a bit warmer than say Los Angeles, where the currents come from the north. Of course Chicago is also known as the windy city.
I've examined a few more stations in the Chicago metro area looking at the average max dew points, and compared to stations in and around NYC, they match up almost exactly OR they are actually a degree or two higher in the peak summer season. Someone can correct me if my analysis is wrong.
Last edited by chicagogeorge; 12-21-2013 at 12:22 PM..
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