World Weather

[Minionman]

Sorry if people think this is a really dumb question.

I was just wondering what weather is like in different parts of the world, and I figured since people here seem to come from a lot of different places, I could get a sense of what weather is like around the planet. I read about weather and see temperature maps but was wondering what people who actually live places actually have to say about it.

This is just me asking questions, it has nothing to do with anything else.

[DeeBye]

In southern Ontario, we get every weather type imaginable.

Once, when I lived in Midland (small town on the shore of Georgian Bay), I awoke to sunshine. It was warm out, so I had a morning swim. In mid-afternoon, it started thunderstorming. By nightfall it was snowing.

In the winter, low temperatures of -20°C are commonplace. In the summer, highs of 35°C are commonplace. Plus, we get very high humidity due to the proximity of the Great Lakes.

I think I'd get bored if I lived anywhere that had the same weather all year long.

[Minionman]

Just to add, I live in the Chicago area, and the weather is a lot like what Dee-Bee said. In farenheit that would be from about 0 to 100 degrees, although a few times it gets more extreme or less extreme.

[Artega]

Georgian weather tends to be warm and humid year-round. Snow has become relatively frequent during winter in recent years, and I've heard of low temperatures in the teens in the northern mountains. During the summer, the weather can be similar to that of a tropical rain forest; it's generally very hot (higher eighties and lower nineties) and very humid (I seem to recall 70%-90% being common, but that seems a little high somehow.) It's entirely possible to take a shower and need another one after thirty minutes outside.

[Griselda]

The Willamette Valley in Oregon is famous for its rain. It starts raining in September, and pretty much rains until June, sometimes into July. But, it doesn't get that cold. During the worst of the winter, the temperature might dip below freezing for an hour or two overnight, but then it will come right back up again. Snow is not very common, although we did have quite a snowstorm this past winter, and it was quite cold (teens to 20's F) to boot.

Well, quite a snowstorm means accumulation of maybe 6 inches, but we don't have a fleet of snowplows, and don't use salt on the roads. Also, once it turned to freezing rain, we were in for some trouble. Trees were coming down all over the place, under the weight of all of that ice. Oregonians have no idea how to drive in snow or ice either, unless they live in the mountains.

The rain is often steady, but it's usually more of a light drizzle. People here walk around in it without umbrellas, and usually without even trying to move quickly out of the rain. You get slightly damp, then you go inside and dry off. No big deal. We also don't get thunderstorms. We had one in the past year, and even that was unusual. People were talking about it for weeks (no kidding!).

If you live near the Columbia Gorge, there will be a cold, cold wind during the winter, though. The temperature might not be too cold, but that wind just goes right through you. I am glad that I live away from the winds at the moment.

But, there is one thing...







Oregon is so well known for its rain that most people don't even hear the "September through June" and think about the months not listed. It's a pretty well-kept secret, but it does NOT rain during the summer. At all. There will usually be at least six weeks without any precipitation, and usually very little in the weeks surrounding those. During the summer, it's not too hot (80's mostly, 90's some of the time, and 100 or so for a few days only), and the humidity is very low. Every day. Also, because there are few clouds during that time, the temperature cools off every night as soon as the sun goes down. It doesn't get cold, but just gets to a perfect temperature for cooling off after the hot day. Those beautiful summers more than make up for the winters, but that's our little secret.

Or did I just tell you? Ack, our secret is revealed! :o

[ShadowHM]

I live in Toronto, also near a Great Lake. The weather I see is much like what DeeBye reports.

I was raised in Northern Ontario. The one thing that took me quite a while to adjust to when I moved here was the humidity. A temperature of -20°C in a dry climate is just not as cold as a temperature of -10°C with humidity. It didn't snow as much there as it does here, but what falls stayed on the ground, giving a lot of cold clear winter days with an accumulation of snowbanks by the roads. And hot still August nights with a high humidity make it hard to sleep. That's part of why I love my cottage. :)

[klaptonic]

They say in Texas, if you don't like the weather, stick around it will change soon.
This is usually said in winter when one day will be 20 degrees the next 80 degrees. Our winters last from November to February.
The other months we'll call summer (no real fall or spring around here). Today is supposed to be our first 90 degree day here in Austin, but other parts of TX have already hit 90+. Not long till we will be counting the number of days of over 100 degree heat (with humidity). July and August are pretty much all 100 degree days. Alot of people can't take the heat, but I have learned to enjoy it. After all, the only real way to combat heat is too remove clothing, and living next to the largest University in America, there are plenty of nice sights to be seen.
Lately the weather has been fairly nice with cool showers everyday around noon (rain with sunshine), makes it feel very Caribean.

[[wcip]Angel]

Due to the mountainnous regions in the middle of Norway, the clouds coming in from the Atlantic/Norse sea need to gain altitude to get past these mountains, and the only way how is to rain. Subsequently, the western part of Norway (where I live) suffer from lots of rain. We have relatively mild winters (seldom below -10C) and warm summers (between 20-30 degrees on average.)

As for natural disasters such as tidal ways, floods, earthquakes or the like, I've never experienced any, and I've lived here for 21 years.

[Zarathustra]

I'm with Minion on that one. With Lake Michigan right here, we can get some screwy weather at times.

[ShadowHM]

Do you get seiches on Lake Michigan?

They are usually rather small at Pike Bay on Lake Huron (same lake, eh?) but sometimes they are up to four feet and that makes it quite exciting.

[Jeunemaitre]

Weather in Washington DC, especially in the winter, is something that continues to amaze the residents. The threat of overnight snow (4-6 inches) is enough to close schools in the city and suburbs, regardless of the chance of precipitation (schools have been closed the night before, only to find the next morning that snow never comes). The winter highs average 20F-30F, with overnight lows generally in the single digits. Summers begin in early may when temperatures climb into the 70s and 80s. They continue to climb into the 90s with increasing relative humidity through the summer, peaking in August when 90+F/90%rH is not uncommon. Humidity then drops and temperatures linger in the 70s through September.

Weather in Syracuse NY is another issue. Through 4 years at university in CNY I learned to expect snow anytime from September through May (snowed on Mothers day more than once). The problem is that the snow period coincides with the "No sun at all, completely overcast, seasonal-affective-disorder inducing" period. This period leads the university students to welcome the "shorts weather" of mid April (read high of 55). "Lake-effect" snowstorms are commonly expected to dump up to a foot of snow overnight (note to remember: the university has closed for weather for a total of 4 days since 1870, 2 of which occurred following a storm around Labor Day (usually the first or second Monday in September) which tore the side off a few buildings in the student apartment area of campus, and knocked out power in the city for days). Summer in CNY will frequently have highs in the mid80s with high humidity in the long days in July and August. Winters made me glad to attend SU football games in the Carrier Dome.

[Zarathustra]

Around Chicago, no seiches of which I've heard. I'm in the south suburbs of Chicago right now, so I'm still a bit from the Lake.

I do know that in New Buffalo there was a day recently when the water raised a good four or five feet for about an hour, then went back down. Since that day most people have been tying their boats up a bit further away from the docks. :D

But today was a perfect example of Chicago weather. It started out cool and looking like the sky was about to open up, then it ended up barely raining at all, the sun is out, and it's about to climb into the 80's. Good times.

[Daemon]

Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada --> about an 1h30 drive east from Montréal.

Fall: mix of rainy days and beautiful summer-like days, with cool nights

Winter: When it don't snow, it's freaking cold! Thank God for goose-feather coats! (good summary of last winter, sure glad that one's over!)

Spring: Mix of warm/cool days, either sunny or rainy, anything goes! (at least this year)

Summer: varies from year to year, some are very rainy, some not, typical summer has it's share of rain, although most days are hot and sunny, and almost always a good week of scorching heat, either a bone-dry 35 celsius, where you should seek the shade, or a heavy, hard-to-sustain, VERY damp 30 celsius, where the shade won't do any good, crank the A/C up baby!


-D

[DarkCrown]

Griselda does a very good job of describing weather in the Willamette Valley, which is where I currently live. I moved here from Montana, where the weather is not nearly as mild.

The winters in Montana are very cold. The coldest I have ever seen is -40 F. This is unusually cold but does happen. The oddest thing about Montana weather however is what the locals call a 'chinook'.

The prevailing weather patterns bring cold air down from the arctic. But every now and again in mid-winter the wind will shift and warmer air from the Pacific will blow in. This can happen very quickly. The temperature can go from -20F to 40F in as little as 20 minutes. It's really something the first time you experience it.


-DarkCrown

[JustAGuy]

I live in Kingston, Ontario, right smack dab inbetween Montreal and Toronto. We're right on Lake Ontario, so the climate is usually moderated (or exagerrated) by it. Dee explained it pretty well, although it's a little less drastic here, in most cases. I used to live in Markham (just north of Toronto), and it was extremely dry and hot during the summer, and bitterly cold in the winter. It's a notch down in both respects here in Kingston.

Anyway, I just came back from the Dominican Republic. The weather was hot and humid there, but mostly overcast. Too bad, too, I didn't have much of a chance for tanning. After coming home from that tropical location, I have realized how much I appreciate the Canadian climate. I couldn't stand it if it was hot and sunny all the time. My body must have really gotten used to it while I was there, though, as now I have picked up a very powerful cold. Damn climate changes! Sure was nice swimming in the ocean, though...

[Obi2Kenobi]

I'm in Colorado, near Denver. /edit: I take that back. I'm not near Denver, I'm just in the "Denver Metro Area". Meaning I'm in the Mountains area, not the Plains.

They say in Texas, if you don't like the weather, stick around it will change soon.

I say in Colorado, if you don't like the weather, don't worry, it's already changed. :D
I've seen some wierd weather. We've gotten snow on our side of the street while our neighbors across the street had sun. Just a few days ago, we went from a high of 90 to snowflakes the size of tennis balls (circumferancewise). We've had a high at around midnight and a low at 2:00. The rares times there's enough moisture, we get fog so think you could eat it (well, I'm exaggerating a little on this one, but still!). I've been through a day that had sun, then snow, then rain, sun again, and a little while later, a tornado warning complete with thunder and hail. However, I've still never actually seen a tornado. We do have extreme averages, though. High of well of 95 in the summer (I tested the theory of cooking eggs on the street), and somewhere below 30 in the winter this year (we had a warm winter this year...), with normally below 20. This is all obviously in Farenheight. Unfortunately, we're going through a drought. If there was one thing I could change about the weather here, it would be the lack of precipitation. It does help keep away the bugs, though. But don't get me started on how bad the weeds can get, even without rain.

[Minionman]

Good info. I like hearing from people who actually live there, since this information is usually better than maps.

Some relatives live in the middle of Michigan, between lake Michigan and Huron, and they get colder weather than Chicago, and a lot more snow. The difference may be because they don't live near major cities, but the snow probably comes from the lakes.

[Archon_Wing]

In San Francisco, the weather can change from sizzling hot to freezing cold in about 5 minutes. ;) We never really hit the extremes very much though. Typical fog and cold into fairly warm is the typical pattern, if typical is simply what happens the most as opposed to plain ol' "typical"

[Chief Fruity]

I come from Winnipeg (READ: Winterpeg) where it snows a good 8 months of the year. This past winter, we probably had the coldest one we've had for many years. I think the lowest it went was bout -50C without the windchill. We get lots of snow every year, enough that it's knee deep for me (I stand 6'4"). I think the last 'snow day' that we had was back about 6 or 7 years ago. It's near impossible for us to have to close down, I think it takes about 2 feet of snow, maybe more. Winter seems to linger here. We just got snow a week ago, after it had all gone already. I really hate walking to school through a blizzard in the middle of May... <_<

The other few months, when it isn't extreemely cold and frigid, it gets to around a high of 35C. Not too hot, and not too cool either. Glad that the beaches are only an hour away...

I heard someone say that this city has the healthiest people in the world. We are used to almost every temperature. Although, I could do without it going down quite so low sometimes.

[Nantuko_Primus]

So you live in/near Portland too, Griselda? I live in Portland, but my house is technically in "unincorporated Washington County". I must say, the weather is mostly as you described it. However, there usually is good weather until the fourth week of school. We in Oregon have great springs, as we do this year. Our Gym teacher decided to do a track and field unit this last few weeks and I've discovered I'm pretty darn good at the discuss.

-Nantuko_Primus