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NYC has average winter highs of 5C, sunny weather, and a largely inconsistent snowpack. Temps can frequently rise to 10 or even 15C in the midst of winter. That's not particularly wintry if you ask me. But yeah, there are rare exceptions to those rules I stated. For example, I think that Akita is quite wintry despite not meeting two of those conditions.
This question pertains to what we feel is a REAL winter, not just any winter. Hence it is open to opinion. It is your opinion that a real winter is simply a cooler season, and it is my opinion that a real winter requires snow & cold.
Quote:
Originally Posted by alex985
NYC is a winter city? Give me a break. It doesn't even see consistent snow pack and the average highs are in the 40s for most of the winter. Winnipeg is a winter city, not NYC.
I beg to differ. The winters of 2000-1, 2002-3, 2003-4, 2004-5 and (I agree barely) 2005-6, and then 2008-9, 2009-10, 2010-1, 2013-4 and 2014-5 were significantly more "wintry" than you described. The last two had over 50" in snow, with snow on the ground for a good 30 or so days, and much longer outside the city. 2002-3, 2003-4, 2004-5 and 2005-6 were three in a row with snow over 40". You both are obviously not familiar with NYC weather.
This. Snowfall in Canberra is very low as well, so definitely not a real winter.
IMO, a "real winter" is a climate which satisfies at least two out of three of the following conditions:
-mean temperature below 0C (32F) from Dec-Feb (NH) or June-Aug (SH)
-snowfall of at least 50cm (20 in) per annum
-at least three nights below -20C (-4F) per annum
So, for example, Charlotte Pass is an Australian climate with a real winter. It's not a city, though, and has no permanent residents.
That is ridiculous. Tons of places get snow each winter but not 20 inches. So you're telling me a place in Tennessee that gets atleast a few snowfalls a year but rarely more than 6 inches has no real winter? What is a February day with 8 inches of snow on the ground considered there to you? "Late Fall"? At least 1 inch of snow a year should be a requirement.
I beg to differ. The winters of 2000-1, 2002-3, 2003-4, 2004-5 and (I agree barely) 2005-6, and then 2008-9, 2009-10, 2010-1, 2013-4 and 2014-5 were significantly more "wintry" than you described. The last two had over 50" in snow, with snow on the ground for a good 30 or so days, and much longer outside the city. 2002-3, 2003-4, 2004-5 and 2005-6 were three in a row with snow over 40". You both are obviously not familiar with NYC weather.
I was going by 1981-2010 averages. Yeah sure, NYC can get many individual years that are wintry. If you ask me, 1994, 1996, 2003-2005, 2009, 2010, 2014 and 2015 all had real winters (to name a few). But when you take the average you also have to include lame years like 2012, 2013, 2008, 2006, etc. After taking averages the numbers even out to be rather lame: 5C average high from Dec-Feb and only 24 in of snow. (I assumed that the question pertained to a typical year and not an extraordinary year, which is why I used averages rather than extremes.)
The outer suburbs do indeed get real winters more often, I don't dispute that. The averages in Westchester or Putnam county can be 5-10F lower than the city itself though with 10+ more inches of snow, so I was referring more to the actual city (KNYC) with UHI and all. And Poughkeepsie and Newburgh can even average 10F lower, so they're decently wintry. In winter I remember showing you Westhampton Beach (FOK) in eastern Long Island which dropped to -13F on one February morning, and indeed I would consider Westhampton to be wintry. Again this is all relative to my own preferences.
Quote:
Originally Posted by BadgerFilms
That is ridiculous. Tons of places get snow each winter but not 20 inches. So you're telling me a place in Tennessee that gets atleast a few snowfalls a year but rarely more than 6 inches has no real winter? What is a February day with 8 inches of snow on the ground considered there to you? "Late Fall"? At least 1 inch of snow a year should be a requirement.
No, I don't believe that Tenessee (or any place in the South) gets real winters outside of the Smokies. Most of Tennessee's major cities have average highs near 50F during meteorological winter as well as plenty of sunshine, so snow pack rarely lasts longer than a couple days. Not too wintry in my opinion.
Also, how can there be 8 inches of snow on the ground on a February day if no more than 6 inches fall all winter? I don't consider a winter average snow total of 6 inches to be wintry, if that's your question. Again, there may be some brief instances of wintry weather, but overall (in the average) Tennessee is not a wintry place.
Once more, these are my own preferences. No one is obliged to agree with me, and I'm sure many people don't.
Not a city but Bluff Knoll in WA is the only place in WA that'll qualify many of you guy's winter expectations with some snow, low sunshine and low temps. Usually it gets snow once every 1-2 years but this year surprisingly it has snowed twice. Snow can fall from April-November but usually from Jun-Aug. It is not habited but some people live nearby (20km). Most of the time though in winter the maximums are 5-9˚C and the minimums 0-2˚C.
Hey all you posters from northern North America and Europe who think winter must be persistent snow and below freezing temps, you DON'T have a monopoly on what is and what is not winter. Where I'm from originally, winter is 78-83°F and little to no rain. Tell people that have never been outside of the tropics that they don't have winter FFS.
Hey all you posters from northern North America and Europe who think winter must be persistent snow and below freezing temps, you DON'T have a monopoly on what is and what is not winter. Where I'm from originally, winter is 78-83°F and little to no rain. Tell people that have never been outside of the tropics that they don't have winter FFS.
I think that "winter" is purely subjective. I'm sure there's people in the tropics who feel as if they don't have a winter.
winter
ˈwɪntə/Submit
noun
1.
the coldest season of the year, in the northern hemisphere from December to February and in the southern hemisphere from June to August.
I think that "winter" is purely subjective. I'm sure there's people in the tropics who feel as if they don't have a winter.
If you're one of the many many people in the tropics who have never left the region, how do they know if they have winter or not? Majority of people that live in the tropics are poor, unfortunately, and can't afford to travel outside of their country or neighboring country. To them, winter is the lower sun and dry season.
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I gotta get away from this forum for a while...
FFS.
