Is hot weather or cold weather... (snow, warm, ice, Chicago)

[JoCo freak]

...more brutal? Which do you think would be worse, the beastly hot summers of the southwest or the brutally cold weather in Alaska or northern sections of continental United States. My opinion of the more brutal weather has to be the hotness of the southwest, more people die of the heat than the cold.Now that you have heard my opinion, whats yours?

[city_data91]

The cold is worse by far.

[MrMarbles]

Lot of people die from cold if you include things like car accidents, slips on ice, etc. Not sure about the statistics but they could easily be greater than deaths from heat.

As to the original question, I'm not sure. Biologically, people are better designed to deal with heat than cold. (We evolved in Africa, after all). That said, good clothes and artificial heat have made cold weather almost a non-factor. People have crossed the Bering Strait land bridge from Siberia to Alaska during an ice age over 10 thousand years ago (in other words, long before Gore-Tex and chemical hand warmers). Thus it is easier to hide from cold than from heat.

If I had to choose, I'd probably live in the southwest, but I'd hate it.

[I LOVE NORTH CAROLINA]

All people do not handle heat and cold the same. I do not handle the heat well at all. Cold air is much better for me. So it really depends on the individual. I know for Jammie, CC, and SAB, they handle the heat much better than I do.

[FVWinters]

As I am now moving into my late youth, I have noticed I tolerate heat much better than I used to but can't take the cold as well. I wonder if this is a tendencey we all have as we age.
If my only options were to live in a place that got very hot as opposed to one that got extremely cold I would take the hot place.

Of course I could move to South Dakota or western Nebraska and get both.

[yankeegirl313]

I can handle the cold alot better!

[Jammie]

IMHO the cold is much worse, but it can depend on what we all think of when we hear the word, "Cold". Sub-zero temps with windchills are things that pop into my mind while 40 degrees may be what someone else thinks about.

If it's hot, I can still be out and about early mornings or late evenings. I can comfortably get to my car or be outside for a bit. When it's 20 below and there's a windchill, I'd run to get anywhere, but then I'd fall on the ice/snow.

We just discussed the stats recently between heat deaths and deaths from the cold/snow/ice. I remember posting it because new stats do show that more people die from the cold and winter then from the heat. Previously, the stats were turned around. Like we were talking about in another thread~it probably has a lot to do with the fact that now nearly everyone has AC.

I could survive a hot day without AC if I had to~I wouldn't like it, but I'd probably live through it. I couldn't survive a day without heat during the winter.

[susancruzs]

I'd still go with the heat, remembering the deadly situation in Chicago and Milwaukee in 1995. Articles were published about heat-wave deaths, a serious situation, and Americans should pay attention.

Alot of people forgot or don't remember 700+ people died in Chicago in July 1995, an incredible number.

[§AB]

cold is more brutal. You can actually die a very painful death (or lose limbs to frostbite) if it gets cold enough.

[koyaanisqatsi1]

People in Australia very rarely die of the cold, heat is the real killer. The 1895 - 1896 and 1907 - 1908 SE Australia heatwaves killed over 435 people as did the 1939 one with over 430 people dead and over 370 people died in this year's heatwaves (January and February). Many more have died in other heatwaves.