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It is better, though a bit of a "split personality" between the northern and southern halves of the county in terms of winter weather, I lived for 4 1/2 years in the Capital District and most of the rest of my life in Westchester (southern part of county, but commuted to far northern part for 15 years), so my take on comparison:
The split is basically the area north of I-287 that is further north, higher in elevation and inland from the Long Island Sound vs. the areas south of 287 that are more built up and closer to NYC. The southern half is very similar to NYC, about 1/3 the annual snow totals compared to Saratoga, much of the snowfall is 1 or 2 big storms, but it usually melts quickly, and while temperatures are cold, nighttime lows are often above 20, rarely in the single numbers, and almost never below zero.
Northern Westchester transitions to a winter climate somewhat closer to Saratoga. I emphasize transition though, it's still better. By the time you're at the northern border with Putnam county, they get more snow (still only about 1/2 of Saratoga's annual average though), and it is colder, particularly at night and in the early morning (though still warmer than Saratoga on average).
Thank you SO MUCH for that great, detailed response.
It's exactly what I needed to know and I appreciate your taking the time to write.
The weather up here is so extreme (not just winter), it takes a lot out of you. Just this past weekend, we had to cancel a trip because we got stuck in the most horrific thunderstorm (blinding rain, horrific lightning and winds) I have ever seen. We had to pull off the road twice and since the storm was all along our route, we waited over an hour at a gas station for clearing and went back home.
Thought the winters were a bit rough, otherwise it was nice mix of having city near mountains and country. And yeah, they get more thunderstorms up there too.
As for the original response, I'm kind of a "weather geek" so it was pretty easy.
Glad you're a weather geek, 7 Wishes.
I could have used your expertise before we moved to Saratoga. Everyone was telling us how mild the winters had been, so I didn't even think to do much research.
We moved here from SoCal, so it was quite a culture shock in lots of ways. We thought since we're originally from NYC, we could handle the winter and had no idea what we were in store for.
You would have been amazed if you saw the weather we had to deal with a few days ago. The sky ahead was so dark and ominous and looked like an episode of one of those storm chaser tv shows. Okay to watch it on tv, but in person it was really scary.
Thanks again for your insights. I am pretty sure we'll look further south in Westchester now.
Guess I'll still have to move with my shovel and ice scrapers though.
This year we had no summer. Take that into account as well.
The worst part in the area north to the city is that is impossibly humid all year long. It either comes from the south or from the great lakes but its always present. The humidity makes both low and high temperatures much worse then they are in reality.
The difference between saratoga and westchester is in temperatures which are somewhat milder in the south, but in general I think there is no significant difference in the number of cloudy and rainy days. Sometimes, in transitional seasons it will snow in saratoga but in westchester it will only be rainy.
I've been living in Saratoga County and have experienced two brutal winters in the two years I've been here. We've had six months of winter each year.
I might be relocating to Westchester and wanted to know what winter is like down there.
I'm hoping it's better.
Also hoping this isn't a dumb question!
Thanks,
Ellie
westchester isnt terrible, but the second a sno flake hits the ground every SUV driving mook slows down to 10 and drives right on top of the yellow lines so u cant even pass them
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