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I'm curious about the city with the highest total of heating degree + cooling degree days. That could be viewed as the city with the most radical "four season climate". We have to discount climates where one season is more than twice one season or the other, i.e. where the heating degree days are twice the cooling degree days or the cooling degree days are twice the heating degree days. I'm looking for a city that is equally bad in heating and cooling degree days, with one season up to max twice the other (it's difficult to have an equal heating vs. cooling degree day climate, but we don't want it too lopsided). I would like to see the list filtered by "most expensive cold weather four season climate (max heating degree days twice cooling) and most expensive warm weather four season climate (max cooling degree days twice heating)"
That city could also be deemed as the most unsustainable city when energy prices skyrocket...
Good candidate, but there are better ones. Astana 14 degree winter high to 80 degree summer high. Minneapolis, 24 degree winter high to 83 degree summer high. Also, lows in the 50's in Astana in the summer to humid 64 in Minneapolis. So I think Minneapolis is a much better candidate. Many more cooling degree days than Astana and better balanced.
Good candidate, but there are better ones. Astana 14 degree winter high to 80 degree summer high. Minneapolis, 24 degree winter high to 83 degree summer high. Also, lows in the 50's in Astana in the summer to humid 64 in Minneapolis. So I think Minneapolis is a much better candidate. Many more cooling degree days than Astana and better balanced.
Harbin has 82/65 humid summer and 10/-11 winter. I don't think any city can beat that for heating and cooling degree days. But I'll keep looking.
I suspect a Siberian location like Yakutsk would be the most. Even if it has few cooling days, the cold is so extreme that the total heating + cooling days is probably more than a place like Harbin. An average July day in Harbin would have a cooling degree day of 9°, not really that much.
On the other side of the spectrum, Tehran has an average high of 98/75 in the summer and 46/31 in the winter.
Dallas has 96/77 and 57/37 as highs. Dallas has colder record lows and higher record highs which mean that even though it has "milder" weather, heating and cooling needs may indeed be more.
I suspect a Siberian location like Yakutsk would be the most. Even if it has few cooling days, the cold is so extreme that the total heating + cooling days is probably more than a place like Harbin. An average July day in Harbin would have a cooling degree day of 9°, not really that much.
That's why I said there has to be not too much inbalance between heating and cooling degree days.
Cooling/heating degree days are deviations from 65 degree highs (defined for large scale businesses that way). 83 degrees would be 18 cooling degree days or a 47 degree high would be equivalent heating degree days. Multiple by 2 to get 36 degrees heating day for max variation and you get a 29 degree high which is in line with Minneapolis. Harbin actually is too unbalanced for my requirements.
For Tehran, that is 46 degree high in winter or 19 heating degree days. Multiple by 2 for 38 and you get 97 degree max summer highs and Tehran has 98 degree summer highs. So, Tehran fits my requirements as being around twice as hot in the summer for cooling degree days as it is in the winter for heating degree days.
Dallas is pretty close, needs around a 50 degree high and has 56 to meet the balance requirements. Minneapolis has a 24 degree high but needs 29 to qualify but I'll say that both are good candidates.
That's why I said there has to be not too much inbalance between heating and cooling degree days.
Cooling/heating degree days are deviations from 65 degree highs (defined for large scale businesses that way). 83 degrees would be 18 cooling degree days or a 47 degree high would be equivalent heating degree days. Multiple by 2 to get 36 degrees heating day for max variation and you get a 29 degree high which is in line with Minneapolis. Harbin actually is too unbalanced for my requirements.
No. Cooling and heating degree days are calculated by deviation from mean temperature:
For Tehran, that is 46 degree high in winter or 19 heating degree days. Multiple by 2 for 38 and you get 97 degree max summer highs and Tehran has 98 degree summer highs. So, Tehran fits my requirements as being around twice as hot in the summer for cooling degree days as it is in the winter for heating degree days.
Dallas is pretty close, needs around a 50 degree high and has 56 to meet the balance requirements. Minneapolis has a 24 degree high but needs 29 to qualify but I'll say that both are good candidates.
Yakutsk would be way too unbalanced.
So Tehran or Minneapolis are best qualifiers for places where most of the time either heat or A/C is on.
To get even more accurate we'd need to look at places where the summer to fall transition is quickest and the spring to summer transition is quickest, i.e. places where the 60 to 70 degree highs are minimized (i.e. within 5 of 65 degree highs).
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