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A twist on the giant Dallas/Minneapolis/Miami thread that I think could be fun! Is this quintessential hot summer humid continental climate more similar to the borderline warm summer humid continental/subarctic climate or to the slightly cool but reasonably middle ground subtropical climate that it is close to in between in terms of yearly temperature?
Obviously a point for Fairbanks, not even gonna bother looking for that data.
Record low
Fairbanks: -66F
Minneapolis: -41F
Atlanta: -9F
Point for Fairbanks
Record high
Fairbanks: 99F
Minneapolis: 108F
Atlanta: 106F
Point for Atlanta, but heck Minneapolis has an even higher record than them
7-6-2
So Minneapolis is a tad bit closer to Fairbanks than Atlanta going off of that, but I suppose there are many more stats to compare, though overall the vibe should be a tad bit closer to Fairbanks.
Edit: Although, things like records might be a flawed way to compare since a buddy of mine pointed to the fact that Tromso, Norway has a higher record low than Dallas, Texas and such. So yeah I do still stand by Fairbanks being more similar though.
Obviously a point for Fairbanks, not even gonna bother looking for that data.
Record low
Fairbanks: -66F
Minneapolis: -41F
Atlanta: -9F
Point for Fairbanks
Record high
Fairbanks: 99F
Minneapolis: 108F
Atlanta: 106F
Point for Atlanta, but heck Minneapolis has an even higher record than them
7-6-2
So Minneapolis is a tad bit closer to Fairbanks than Atlanta going off of that, but I suppose there are many more stats to compare, though overall the vibe should be a tad bit closer to Fairbanks.
Very comprehensive, it's reasonably sound. I will add though that I would use the quantity of the point over the number: for example, although Atlanta and Fairbanks each have a point for hottest yearly temperature and January average, Atlanta's point matters more because Minneapolis' yearly hottest temperature is closer to it than to Fairbanks' by a greater margin than its average January temperature is closer to Fairbanks.
Quote:
Edit: Although, things like records might be a flawed way to compare since a buddy of mine pointed to the fact that Tromso, Norway has a higher record low than Dallas, Texas and such. So yeah I do still stand by Fairbanks being more similar though.
True. Records are not to be used in comparing climates, because they are RECORDS and for that reason don't define it.
Overall I still don't know what to think. With regards to some points not on your list, Minneapolis is a bit closer to Atlanta for annual average (though still very close to the middle between the 2), much closer (in fact identical) to Fairbanks for precipitation pattern, closer to Atlanta in seasonal lag, and closer to Fairbanks in seasonal temperature differences between January and July (I don't consider these last 2 arguments as strong as arguments related to temperature and precipitation, though, because seasonal lag and difference do not deal with actual temperature and precipitation figures, just ranges).
One of the things that makes this thread so hard to answer for me, unlike the Dallas/Minneapolis/Miami thread, is the lack of Fairbanks-like coldest weather I have experienced, especially compared to Minneapolis-like weather and Atlanta-like weather. A Dfa/Dfb Minneapolis-like humid continental climate will have a fair share of Atlanta coldest weather, but much less of Fairbanks coldest weather.
Fairbanks due to the prescence of snowy and frigid winters. Albeit I would say that mid-April til mid-October is more like Atlanta, but the winter really leans it into Fairbanks' favour
Obviously a point for Fairbanks, not even gonna bother looking for that data.
Record low
Fairbanks: -66F
Minneapolis: -41F
Atlanta: -9F
Point for Fairbanks
Record high
Fairbanks: 99F
Minneapolis: 108F
Atlanta: 106F
Point for Atlanta, but heck Minneapolis has an even higher record than them
7-6-2
So Minneapolis is a tad bit closer to Fairbanks than Atlanta going off of that, but I suppose there are many more stats to compare, though overall the vibe should be a tad bit closer to Fairbanks.
Edit: Although, things like records might be a flawed way to compare since a buddy of mine pointed to the fact that Tromso, Norway has a higher record low than Dallas, Texas and such. So yeah I do still stand by Fairbanks being more similar though.
Despite the cold winters. I am going to lean Atlanta. April through October in Minneapolis is nothing like Fairbanks. The humidity and heat is not comparable in the heart of summer.
Minneapolis' annual mean minimum(-27.2) is colder than Atlanta's record low(-23). Fairbanks annual mean minimum (-43.2) is also colder than Minne's record low (-41). Fairbanks being Dfb is bonkers to me. Although they do have a month averaging 17.2 (nearly tropical ) It's hard to get past the several months of (-20) average temps, cold snaps regularly hitting (-30) or colder even in November and March etc etc
Minne has 3 months >18c, Atlanta has 6 and Fairbanks as mentioned has 0. Fairbanks has 6 months below freezing, Minneapolis has 3 months and Atlanta has 0. That's pretty neat.
I guess I have to go with Atlanta more similar. Fairbanks is way too far up there and arctic. Despite only having 6 months of <0, Fairbanks still has 5 months with mean minimums below (-30). That's just wacky. Atlanta and Minneapolis also have almost identical sunshine hours, both significantly more than Fairbanks.
Minneapolis' annual mean minimum(-27.2) is colder than Atlanta's record low(-23). Fairbanks annual mean minimum (-43.2) is also colder than Minne's record low (-41). Fairbanks being Dfb is bonkers to me. Although they do have a month averaging 17.2 (nearly tropical ) It's hard to get past the several months of (-20) average temps, cold snaps regularly hitting (-30) or colder even in November and March etc etc
Minne has 3 months >18c, Atlanta has 6 and Fairbanks as mentioned has 0. Fairbanks has 6 months below freezing, Minneapolis has 3 months and Atlanta has 0. That's pretty neat.
I guess I have to go with Atlanta more similar. Fairbanks is way too far up there and arctic. Despite only having 6 months of <0, Fairbanks still has 5 months with mean minimums below (-30). That's just wacky. Atlanta and Minneapolis also have almost identical sunshine hours, both significantly more than Fairbanks.
With regards to more comparisons, Fairbanks also has a normal -17.4 January high several degrees colder than Minneapolis' normal -12.9 January low, a -27.3 normal January low a bit colder than Minneapolis' normal coldest seasonal temperature, and a -1.3 normal January maximum that only falls about halfway between Minneapolis' -4.7 January high and Atlanta's normal 2 January low.
I think I made up my mind, Minneapolis is probably more similar to Atlanta by a several degree margin even if we go by somewhere like Bobby Dodd Stadium or your house instead of Hartsfield-Jackson. Its average winter temperatures overlapping with normal coldest temperatures all 3 places in Atlanta would get is a huge step towards the similarity compared to Fairbanks' average high leaving Minneapolis' average low a full 4.5 degrees in the dust, never mind the fact that April/October is already closer to Atlanta.
Fairbanks being a Dfb also bonkers me, after my first serious interest in it during 2017-18 I got back into climatology just in time to see the 1991-2020 normals on the Wikipedia pages and could not stop asking myself 'what happened here, why is this humid continental, I swear it was solid subarctic back when I last checked'. A whole lot of would be needed to convey that.
The 4 months of 10+ degrees and 1 nearly tropical month (in fact a Fairbanks July is warmer than an Orlando/Tampa January and June warmer than a Corpus Christi/Orlando January) do speak volumes to the continentality. Just such an impressive climate, I think it and Fort Yukon are my favorite climates in the state.
Last but not least I wonder how other people's opinions might change if we used your house or Bobby Dodd for Atlanta. Obviously it's not changing mine, but it's quite conceivable the very long frostless periods compared to the airport and especially Minneapolis (such as the 2019/2020 winter last frost on January 22, 2021/22 winter first frost on January 7, and no frost yet this season) will have an impact on the opinions of some users.
Does Minneapolis ever get winter weather like this?
So cold the fahrenheit and celsius temperatures are practically the same
We can get those temps but with much larger diurnal ranges
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Is this quintessential hot summer humid continental climate more similar to the borderline warm summer humid continental/subarctic climate or to the slightly cool but reasonably middle ground subtropical climate that it is close to in between in terms of yearly temperature?
, it's reasonably sound. I will add though that I would use the quantity of the point over the number: for example, although Atlanta and Fairbanks each have a point for hottest yearly temperature and January average, Atlanta's point matters more because Minneapolis' yearly hottest temperature is closer to it than to Fairbanks' by a greater margin than its average January temperature is closer to Fairbanks.
is also colder than Minne's record low (-41). Fairbanks being Dfb is bonkers to me. Although they do have a month averaging 17.2 (nearly tropical 
) It's hard to get past the several months of (-20) average temps, cold snaps regularly hitting (-30) or colder even in November and March etc etc 
would be needed to convey that.
