Finally had a chance to experience a real winter

[Bud_One]

Having lived all my life in SE Texas and only seeing snow once in my lifetime back in 1988 .
My wife and I recently drove to the Lower peninsula of Michigan.
Visited a cozy little town called Petoskey,MI and traveled to Traverse City,MI and had coffee/breakfast at a place called "Brew".
I finally saw snow and experienced what real winter means.
29 was the highest it ever got and wind chill was 10ish for the norm.
Knowing it gets even colder up there,I have a deeper appreciation of what you guys up north go through every winter.
It was a great visit , but it's great to be back at home in SE Texas where it's expected to be 80F on Tuesday next week.
We plan to go back and visit when we have more time.

 

[Rand]

That's a really warm mild winter.

 

[paulri]

I had a college roommate from the Northeast. One of the first things I asked him (in California) was how much fun it was to have a white Christmas. He said after the first 6 feet of snow, it gets a little old.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Traverse City is great. You should come back during Summer or Fall.

 

[The_Jeff]

Can always put more layers on, but can't get more un-clothed past a point. Heat and humidity slow me down, can't get anything done.

 

[Leo99]

I spent a few days up in Edmonton and experienced -30F. Holy [censored], that's cold. It takes your breath away. There is a funny phenomenon, after walking outside in that kind of cold and then coming inside, you can't talk. Nothing comes out. You have to warm up a bit to talk. There are electrical receptacles in parking lot at each parking spot to plug in your car block heater/oil heater. When the temps dip down, they call it plug in weather.

 

[xshoex]

i was in denver/rocky mountains last month. my first 'winter' in 15 years. -10 was no joke

 

[69GTX]

The northeast is not necessarily a basket case for winter weather. In my part of Connecticut we average 10 snow days per year and a total snow accumulation of barely over 2 ft. Other parts of the state less than 2 hours away can get 40 snow falls with an average of 2-3 ft. We really don't have much of a winter around me. And most of the past 5 years have been particularly mild with only February acting like winter.

 

[Bud_One]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Traverse City is great. You should come back during Summer or Fall.


We plan on it... everyone we met said to come back during the fall as well.
And yes.. they said it had been a mild winter so far.
My family in Livonia,MI said that it's been pretty warm.

 

[SZR48207]

Had to visit Madison WI in December for work one year.

It felt like Canada was mad and was sending its coldest winds south to us.

After 2 minutes outside, even with it not being windy, your ears literally start to ache.

But man, everyone I met in WI was so friendly.

 

[E150GT]

I am not jealous.

 

[UNC164]

Spent the first 20 years of my life in Northern Illinois. Hated the cold grey winter sky, the ice and snow with a passion, so I got out of there as quick as I could, headed to the deep South and have never ever looked back in 40 years.

 

[daves87rs]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Traverse City is great. You should come back during Summer or Fall.


Yep, a good spot year round...

 

[Toy4x4]

I lived in MT for four years and the coldest I saw was -20*F. A friend and I walked a mile to High School and the steam from our breathe collected on our eyelashes. At the same time, our eyelashes froze our eyes shut. We laughed and brushed off the ice.

I experienced the other side with a swing of 141*F the other way here in AZ.

 

[Dave Hess]

That's why I will stay and retire in Florida, I won't deal with snow and ice.

 

[Bud]

Although I have spent most of my life in Texas, I lived in Colorado in the 70's. Where I lived there we could get snow from the end of October to middle of April. Didn't mind it as I was young. Now, I will take Texas weather any day. My old bones like the heat.

 

[jeepman3071]

Originally Posted By: 69GTX
The northeast is not necessarily a basket case for winter weather. In my part of Connecticut we average 10 snow days per year and a total snow accumulation of barely over 2 ft. Other parts of the state less than 2 hours away can get 40 snow falls with an average of 2-3 ft. We really don't have much of a winter around me. And most of the past 5 years have been particularly mild with only February acting like winter.


Yup, a few weeks ago it was 50 degrees for a couple days. CT has some wacky weather.

The summers are perfect though. Usually 80s. I love Florida but can't stand 110 degree weather with 90% humidity and surprise thunderstorms every 30 minutes.

 

[Triple_Se7en]

Originally Posted By: Bud_One
Having lived all my life in SE Texas and only seeing snow once in my lifetime back in 1988 .
My wife and I recently drove to the Lower peninsula of Michigan.
Visited a cozy little town called Petoskey,MI and traveled to Traverse City,MI and had coffee/breakfast at a place called "Brew".
I finally saw snow and experienced what real winter means.
29 was the highest it ever got and wind chill was 10ish for the norm.
Knowing it gets even colder up there,I have a deeper appreciation of what you guys up north go through every winter.
It was a great visit , but it's great to be back at home in SE Texas where it's expected to be 80F on Tuesday next week.
We plan to go back and visit when we have more time.


I'll take Petoskey weather year-round over the 4-5 hottest months SE Texas sees. I can dress for the cold. But for those without A.C., one cannot dress for the gasping heat South Texas gets.

No thank you. The four seasons here are wonderful. My idea of improving on Petoskey-type weather would be an additional one month of warmth (not hot) and one less month of cold (Jan-Feb temps) here.

Desert states are another no-thank-you for me. I would never live around places like Phoenix Arizona..... no way Jose.

Glad you enjoyed the area and the different weather BudOne. Come back again.

 

[Bud_One]

Originally Posted By: Triple_Se7en


Glad you enjoyed the area and the different weather BudOne. Come back again.


We'll be back indeed.
Michigan was great.

 

[Patman]

Originally Posted By: Mr Nice
That's why I will stay and retire in Florida, I won't deal with snow and ice.


That's why we come down that way quite often and our plan is to spend winters there when we retire in 5 years. I've said it before, but I absolutely hate cold weather and snow more and more with each passing year. Even a relatively easy winter like we're having up here is still no match for the awesome weather in most of Florida all winter long! We're heading down to Fort Myers for a quick 4 day trip next week (Thursday to Sunday), we were in Cape Coral for 7 days just a month ago, and we already booked a week in Marco Island for this December as well. To us, Florida feels like home.

That being said, I love Ontario summers a lot more than Florida summers. We don't get the daily thunderstorms in Ontario in the summer, and most days are between 75-85 degrees. An Ontario summer day is pretty much identical to a Florida winter day actually!