Which cities/countries do you think that people often have misconceptions about the weather or climate? (tornadoes, seasons)
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Shoulder seasons are warmer in NZ, benefit of lower latitude as compared with UK
Aukland average highs in october and april are at or near 20C,
even Nelson on the South Island those months have average highs close to 18C.
London is the best the UK has with a quite mild 16C average october high,
most of the rest of the UK it is more like 12-14C for april and october highs.
London has an october high of 15.5C and an april high of 14.2C. The equivalent months in Motueka see an average april high of 19C, and an average october high of 18C.
I would think the difference in sunshine would seem as significant as the difference in temperature
the hours of sunshine whilst not that much higher are more evenly spread throughout the year, making it seem much sunnier (just like a lot of tropical places).
Nonsense. They are much higher. This point has been made regularly. The top NZ averages beat the top UK ones by 500-600 hours, and the differences for the lowest averages have a similar gap.
Nonsense. They are much higher. This point has been made regularly. The top NZ averages beat the top UK ones by 500-600 hours, and the differences for the lowest averages have a similar gap.
Don't waste your time with this poster. He's not fact-based, he pulls stats out of his ass.
Another surprise I found was New York in winter. The movies always show NY under thick snow so I was surprised to learn it isn't actually that bad (at least along the coast). While theres occasional blizzards and polar vortexes, I don't imagine it being much worse than the UK a lot of the time in winter. A lot of people imagine NYC being like Chicago/Minneapolis during winter.
While colder than England, at least it get more winter sun, the days are a bit longer with the latitude and summers are hotter. Maybe someone who has spent time in both places during winter could confirm which is better?
NYC's climate is the northernmost humid subtropical climate in the U.S. The USDA plant hardiness zone there is 7b while most of NY state itself is zones 4-5.
It does get chilly in the winter but it's rare that they get the extended cold spells and even rarer for them to have snow on the ground for any length of time.
I grew up in Upstate NY in the center of the snow belt region so snow on the ground was an expected occurrence in winter and the climate there definitely was not subtropical; it was a Dfb humid continental. I remember in science class we would be amused when the teacher would play segments on science news and there would be a panic in NYC about the "giant snowstorm" of a foot or less of snow.
NYC does have much milder winters than Chicago in general. Chicago and Minneapolis have much colder winters than NYC does by far.
NYC can get cold snaps and nor'easters. It definitely can also get some snowstorms as well but these don't last and the extreme cold doesn't last long.
For someone from the UK, I would say that NYC would probably be more comfortable in terms of a less severe winter. Expats I've know who have spent time in various U.S. cities generally have said that the U.S. is very sunny--even in places that U.S residents complain about being "cloudy". I've only known one who lived in both Chicago and NYC and he said both of them were too hot in the summer but NYC was better in the winter. So I guess we will go with that.
I'm biased because I've never lived in the UK and love cold snowy climates. NYC's winter is absolutely pathetic by my standards.
As you said in your original post, Americans think that coastal California is hotter in summer than it really is. They are surprised at how cold the ocean water is. The ocean temperature in San Diego in summer is still cooler than it is in New Jersey, even though New Jersey is at a more more northerly latitude.
I've only known one who lived in both Chicago and NYC and he said both of them were too hot in the summer but NYC was better in the winter. So I guess we will go with that.
I'm biased because I've never lived in the UK and love cold snowy climates. NYC's winter is absolutely
pathetic by my standards.
The advantage of US cities is that air conditioning is far more widespread than in Europe. Even worse, European buildings are designed to stay warm and stuffy. Hot weather in the USA is much more tolerable than hot weather in the UK.
Don't waste your time with this poster. He's not fact-based, he pulls stats out of his ass.
Absolute nonsense, Iam the one that is fact based. I think you should actually listen to what I say rather than just others. That idiot from San Francisco refused to face the facts and was just basing it on his/her opinion. As I said it SEEMS much sunnier because the hours are more evenly spread wheras in reality they are not much different.
Even Wikipedia says the main factors of NZ’s climate are similar to Britain, but of course that’s a fact so it won’t register with you.
As you said in your original post, Americans think that coastal California is hotter in summer than it really is. They are surprised at how cold the ocean water is. The ocean temperature in San Diego in summer is still cooler than it is in New Jersey, even though New Jersey is at a more more northerly latitude.
Californians that live inland think coastal California is colder than it actually is and that’s more of a problem, especially as they won’t accept the FACTS and just use opinion.
Nonsense. They are much higher. This point has been made regularly. The top NZ averages beat the top UK ones by 500-600 hours, and the differences for the lowest averages have a similar gap.
There are places with similar totals though that prove my point. Given that the UK is further from the equator it deserves more credit than NZ.
Selsey, England: 1997.9 hours
Christchurch, NZ: 2070.2 hours
Selsey also has Sunnier summers than Christchurch despite being much further from the equator.
London has an october high of 15.5C and an april high of 14.2C. The equivalent months in Motueka see an average april high of 19C, and an average october high of 18C.
I would think the difference in sunshine would seem as significant as the difference in temperature
I agree that your climate is much better than London’s but only because the sun is more evenly spread throughout the year.
If you discount temperatures, the annual sunshine totals are far less important than the distribution. Vostok Station is one of the sunniest places in the world but has 4 months with no sun at all. Compare the sunshine with Brinchang, Malaysia and despite having lower hours they are more evenly spread throughout the year.
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