Unpopular opinion: Chicago winters aren't THAT bad

[Master Jay]

I did NOT come down to the Chinatown parade today. It was too cold. Did anyone go??

[Kmanshouse]

We didn't go for the same reason. 10 degrees better and we likely were going.

[Master Jay]

Kmanshouse, I DID eat Chinese food, however!

Golden Gate Restaurant, in Waukesha, Wisconsin.

Check it out if you ever come up this way!!

[jjbradleynyc]

Originally Posted by Neptunepenguins

It's only cold like two months a year and it hardly gets snow these days.

I've been there a number of times during the winter season and as long as you dress for the weather, it's fine. Most people work indoors so they'll be sitting inside of a heated building for 8 hours a day, then getting in their heated mode of transportation (bus, train, car) and headed home to their heated house or apartment. If you walk then you'll have to interact more with the cold but as I said if you bundle up then it makes all the difference.

My current company hq is in Chicago, and I worked with a guy who grew up in Chicago, and then left to go to Philly for college and work, and then moved here to NYC for work for a few years.

He always says one of the primary reasons he left Chicago was to escape the long cold winter. BUT, he also did say the snow seemed to have fallen off a lot the last few years. He would mention that Philly and NYC winters were a good 8-10 degrees warmer it felt like, and not nearly as much constant wind as Chicago's winters.

Admittedly, I would consider moving to Chicago myself if the opportunity arose, if it were not for the long winter.

Personally, I can deal with cold days as long as the daytime temp is 30-ish or higher, and there's some sun mixed in. Once you get into highs of teens or twenties for days upon end, and add in cloudiness or gloominess, I am not here for it at all and want to move. LOL

[Cool Arrow]

Chicago winters have been slowly getting milder and milder. This is the warmest winter I've ever experienced in Chicago. 40s this week and 50 next week, in February!! Global warming is real, it's not a liberal hoax.

[G in MP]

Chicago winters are not bad, they're just winters.

[Mathguy]

Here's some actual average temperature data where you can filter by month or year.

It bounces around a lot.

Data is a lot better than perception biases.

https://www.weather.gov/lot/January_...nkings_Chicago

For example, 2014 and 2015 are in the 10 coldest Februarys in the past 150 years.

[DaBears02]

It seems like March weather has come early this year.

[Kmanshouse]

Originally Posted by Mathguy

Here's some actual average temperature data where you can filter by month or year.

It bounces around a lot.

Data is a lot better than perception biases.

https://www.weather.gov/lot/January_...nkings_Chicago

For example, 2014 and 2015 are in the 10 coldest Februarys in the past 150 years.

Interesting.

2022 is missing from the January data. It was pretty mild. 2020,2021 and 2023 are on the warmer end of this list as well.

If you look at the annual list, you'll notice a trend that most of the recent years are on the warmer end of the scale. 2014 was an outlier - that was the polar vortex year, I think.