Cities you thought were hotter/colder/wetter/etc than what they are (climate misconceptions) (snow, hot)
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i always thought the deep south was prone to cold snaps, but it turns out its just the cold epoch
seriously though, off the top of my head i too was surprised about Venice, but not for the same reasons. Venice seems to be depicted as Mediterranean-esque and warm like other Italian cities but it turns out it actually gets very chilly and cold in the winter. colder than London! yet Genoa being just a bit more south sees much milder winters (protection with the mountains).
Scandinavia, esp. Norway, is milder than I thought before
Ditto. My interest in climate actually started when I looked at Scandinavian climate charts and was surprised that they were much milder than I thought.
Five or six years ago, before I became interested in weather, I never knew about the extent of extreme climates on Earth.
Having grown up in a mild 4-season climate with lack of particularly extreme temperatures (avg summer high is 28C, avg winter low is -4C), I had heard about hot cities like Phoenix and Baghdad and also about cold places like Antarctica and Siberia, but never realized just how extreme they were.
However, when I visited Phoenix for the first time in July 2010, I thought that it'd be around 90F during the daytime and 60F at night. But when I went there, I received a pleasant greeting of 110F (43C) air on the way out of the airport. Then I found out that that was the norm (not the exception) and I was astounded. I had never even known that there were places in the world (let alone in my own country) with average temps above 40C for extended periods of time.
Similar reaction to cold places. When I thought of cold temps, I thought of -5C with some moderate winds. I had always imagined the South Pole as a place with constant -5C or -10C temps and light winds. Never had I imagined that there were places in the world where temps dropped below -40C regularly. Needless to say, I was quite surprised when I found out about places like Vostok, Oymyakon, or even Barrow. However, my obsession with cold didn't begin immediately after that (that happened during the cold snaps of Jan 2014).
Before I became interested in weather, I thought that London and New York City had winters mean temperatures similar to -3/-7 C and lasting snow cover was common in both cities. I also thought that Sydney had a climate similar to what Toronto is actually like.
I also thought that temperatures above the 35-40 C range were unique for deserts.
I used to think that NYC/Chicago were much hotter and more humid in summer than they actually are. I also thought, per the usual stereotype that London was much more rainy/foggy/cloudy and colder in the summer.
One of the last times I was in San Francisco I probably experienced the most anomolous ~week in the history of the city
Temps were in the High 80's most of the week with NO fog whatsoever. The last day dawned bright and warm witb temps climbing toward the middle 80's then clouds moved in and I was treated to a suprisingly potent bay-area thunderstorm.
How often does that happen!?
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