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To each their own about the weather, I hate the longish winters just as much as everybody else, but it is more fun having the 4 seasons around here. And I still think our spring, summers, fall are awesome overall. yeah, some bad days where it's 90 and humid, but much better than a lot of other places.
Llama-have you ever seen the smog in LA? We get nothing like that here. Trust me on this. My wife and I drove from vegas to LA on I-15 a few years ago, and as we're descending the mountain pass NE of LA into the valley, we thought we were in the middle of a forest fire. There was no fire. We were descending into the smog cloud and visibility was about 1/2 a mile. Never seen anything like that here, even on the "ozone action days".
And the "lake effect" for Chicago proper means that downtown and the close by areas are WARMER than the outlying burbs during the winter, so it helps. During summer time it cools the downtown area when the winds are right.
The weather her CAN be bad, but overall is decent. Winter usually gets a little harsh around Thanksgiving and ends around mid-march. Spring is usually short, but rainy and usually has some GORGEOUS days in the mid-70s with perfect temps. April and May can be rainy alot, but its not that bad. My b-day is in April and Ive had flurries on my b-day and also had days in the upper 70s. Summer is nice, with a few weeks of horrid humidity. Most of the time its in the mid to low 80s and really pleasant. Fall is gorgeous with the changing colors and all. Crisp temps and BLUE skies and the pumpkin farms and the smell of burning leaves... mmmmm. This October I had family up from AZ and even they commented on how nice the weather was (that was mid-October and we were coatless walking around the pumpkin farm)!
To each their own about the weather, I hate the longish winters just as much as everybody else, but it is more fun having the 4 seasons around here. And I still think our spring, summers, fall are awesome overall. yeah, some bad days where it's 90 and humid, but much better than a lot of other places.
Llama-have you ever seen the smog in LA? We get nothing like that here. Trust me on this. My wife and I drove from vegas to LA on I-15 a few years ago, and as we're descending the mountain pass NE of LA into the valley, we thought we were in the middle of a forest fire. There was no fire. We were descending into the smog cloud and visibility was about 1/2 a mile. Never seen anything like that here, even on the "ozone action days".
And the "lake effect" for Chicago proper means that downtown and the close by areas are WARMER than the outlying burbs during the winter, so it helps. During summer time it cools the downtown area when the winds are right.
Um...when did I ever say that the smog of Chicago was anything like what you would find in LA? Maybe some actually rereading of what I wrote might help in formulating a response.
This is crazy! In fact saying that Chicago, or the whole midwest in general has 'overall decent' weather, is almost as rediculous as the forum member from Chicago, that said that he could see the stars better up there, than I could in central Illinois. Let's get real folks! They don't call it the Windy City for nothing! In fact, if a poll was taken of where the most desirable places to enjoy the seasons in the midwest would be, Chicago may just round out the very bottom.
I know that many here seem to think that Chicago and the burbs are the souce for anything and everything that is perfect, or will be someday in the known universe. And maybe it is? But one thing that it will never have is good weather. A simple fact that is shared by hundreds of millions worlwide. It is almost like going to Georgia, and not expecting to hear a southern accent.
As far as winters go, I will tell you that it hasn't been till today that I have felt safe venturing out into town. And it isn't because our road crews haven't been busy. It is just the obvouis; Midwest winters are not fun. And I guess the blanket that we get every year, must somehow miss Chicago. Iwas just up there last week. It looked three times worse than what we were having. Plus, Chicago sits right on top of the world's biggest, frozen lake!, and TWO hours north of the equator!! Northern Illinois has far worse winters than we do, and southern Illinois has even better than central. Once again, a completely concrete fact. Look it up on city-data. The numbers tell all.
And for someone to say that the haze that hangs over Chicago everyday of the year, isn't going to make that city hotter in summer is just insane. There are millions more cars, buildings, houses, people smoking, etc., than anything we have close to down here. Ever heard of the greenhouse effect?! Every summer my family and I go shopping in Chicago for a weekend. The heat and humidity that the city face are several times what we have down here. And guess why that is? There is breathing room down here, and the heat has room to move around. Do you think it does that in the city? It is all trapped beneath that filth and stench.
Mel. Chicago has horrid weather all times of the year. Well ok, I'll give it 10% good, but that is even streching it! Like I said, visit the numbers on this site to see what I mean. Even though we are no picnic, in no way a picnic, it is many, MANY times more comfortable and desirbale down here during the winter and summer. That haze I was talking about. It pretty much only allows extremes, so they really only have two seasons; extreme winter and exteme summer. It seems that when it comes to why LA has pollution the answer is clear. But heaven forbid the reason for Chicago's is the same! Down here we have a much better and more diverse amount, of all fours seasons. And it is gradual. Not like the bipolar weather that is frequent up there. When it is spring or fall you know it. Too bad you couldn't visit in the fall or spring. Central Illinois is home to the Marigold capitol of the world, and the pumpkin capitol. Both Pekin, and Morton are decked out on their repsctive holidays. It is really amazing! Plus, you can see the change in seasons more with the grwoing, and picking of the world's food. It really makes the seasons come alive and way more authentic than concrete Chicago. We also have hundreds of natural, springfed lakes, and wonderful state parks that I could direct you to. I'm sure that some could even compare to some of the beauty you see living on the west coast.
March is such a dismal state in this part of the country, but I'm sure wherever you decid you will enjoy it. Perhaps you will be enjoying it indoors more than likely.
I agree with the four seasons....I get to see the snow, smell the flowers, feel the heat, see the early blooms popping through the snow, smell the burning leaves and walk among the pumpkins and cut my own Christmas Tree because it's not too very cold.
It's called Illinois. I could be living in Oklahoma, the tornado capitol of the US, or in the Gulf states, subject to tornados and hurricanes. Or, I could be in the extreme northwest with the glaciers in some places and extreme cold.
Or in Hawaii or Washington with the fear of hot lava. Or what about California with the horrible earthquake possibilities or the terrible forest fires and mudslides. Or the extreme northeast with the possibility of deep snow (anything over 2 feet is deep).
Sure, this state might have some some horrible tornados but per capita, the damage is not as great as the hurricanes of the south. And the possibility of an earthquake faces us with the Madras fault so close to us. And yes we have high humidity for a few days a year. So what. Turn up the air conditioning. And we Illinoiosans are a tough breed. We adjust.
No two places in this state are alike. And I'm glad, because it would be a terribly boring state. Sure the weather can be bad but we know we have a new season coming and prepare ourself for the coming good weather or conversely the coming bad weather. Turn up the heat or turn up the air. I have several winter coats and several fall ones and several summer jackets. You never know what the day may bring.
Ten miles up the road from me might be getting exactly the opposite weather than what I am getting. In fact my front yard may be getting snow while my back yard isn't. So I really can't comment on what's going on in my neighbor's yard or what's going on in any city in the state. Because the media doesn't always report it right because they don't know either.
But any way you look at it, we are all Illinois. Each of our locations is just as important as the other.
I asked these 4 questions and got the same answer each time:
What is north of I-80 Answer: Illinois
What is south of I-80 Answer: Illinois
What is east of I-55 Answer: Illinois
What is west of I-55 Answer: Illinois
This means Illinois must be important any way you look. The size of the place or the location of the place isn't as important as the fact that IT IS ILLINOIS. With four seasons.....with snow....with rain....with hot....with nice people.
And that's the story and I'm sticking it to it. (smile)
Most weather systems, travel west to east, so Lake effect doesnt really factor into the equation, (except its cooling and heating properties) You should ask Hoosiers, and Michigan folk about lake effect, Im thirteen miles from hammond, and my weather was dry, sunny, above freezing, drove to hammond, snow snow snow snow, cold..........
Please correct me if Im wrong on this one, but when have we had a real winter, or sudo typical winter, in the last three years, besides this one...doesnt anybody remember New Years, XMAS, with fifty plus degrees.
Despite any bad weather, one problem the world is going to have in the next ten years except us, is the availability of fresh water, FACT the five great lakes are 24 percent of the worlds fresh water supply, and Chicago controls and manages 60 percent of that, which I believe is one major plus for moving to Illinois/Chicago/Cook County, a major plus, those of you from the West Coast, or South, can vouch for this.........most of your water is well water, or river water, and the poor Colorado river supplies most of Calfornia, Arizona,
and Nevada how long do you think thats going to continue.
What is smog?, the reason their is smog in LA, is because LA is in a valley, do we have smog, I dont know, I always thought it was haze, and moisture stagnated air, trapped in Chicago, due to the fact, we have six of the ten tallest buildings in the world, along with our average (but taller than your buildings) forming a windbreaker. I love a Chicago May, and a Chicago October, more than anything..........to think of not being able to wear my Land's end long sleeve button collar shirt, and my expensive ties, would kill me................warm weather everyday severely limits your fashion choices, and who wants that.................
This past November when I was up in Chicago, some co-workers and I met some people that lived in Chicago their entire lives, and listened to them ramble on for a good two hours about how much they enjoyed seeing the shift in seasons, and I quote, "lush" weather events that they see in the city.
Needless to say, me and my co-workers could hardly contain ourselves at this completely ignorant comment. I think I had tears in my eyes as we sat there and listened to this. I'm not sure if I was crying because out of laughter, or pain for them. We contimplated going back and telling them that they should come to a state park downstate before saying something like that. All of you are trully missing out. Like I said before, you posters from Chicago may think you have the full potential when it comes to weather. But what you have is nothing compared to the beauty of the rolling tree lined fields, and meadows that we have down here. Many of which have creeks and streams running through them. We have people from all over the midwest and nation flocking here to a get pictures of the orange horizon as it falls under the corn stalks and pumpkin patches. That is just beauty that you can't get up there.
And yes, Chicago has a smog screen above it. Yes the smog is terrible in LA. And even though Chicago is flat for the most part, the suburbs trap even more of it and just keep it within the city. Like LA, the smog in Chicago has no where to go except to make a less than perfect backdrop for the city.
I've been to Chicago a lot of times, and while I've noticed an industrial smell in some areas, I've never seen anything that I would describe as "smog." Is there pollution in the air, sure. There isn't "smog."
I think I'm just going to have to judge this on my own! So many opinions. Here in southern California, I don't even think about the smog...maybe I am used to it? At any rate, it won't bother me anywhere else! Also, we don't have humidity, but I have definitely experienced it on vacations to the east coast. In the summer it gets up to around 110...I can take the heat. The cold will obviously be a change (it got to about 80 degrees today) but that's what I want. I am tired of the same thing all the time. I can't even find a coat with any sort of lining here, because we just don't use them. Chicago may have harsh weather, but I am using the reasoning that MANY people live there, love it, and haven't died from it. Thanks for all the comments!
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Couple Points
