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Old 09-06-2014, 10:14 PM
 
2,794 posts, read 4,154,869 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by newenglandgirl View Post
Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb, March, April...six and counting. (Winter to me is heating season, snow or not.)
That scared me, until I realized we can do that here in Kansas as well. I'm sure nowhere near as harsh as you get, however! Seems lately we skip spring & fall & have just BRUTAL winter & EVIL summer, not much hiatus in between lately, it seems. I HATE the heat, as do my kids. We are all blond/pale, & burn in 30 seconds flat! We hibernate inside from like May-Sept/Oct.
Wish I had read this thread before starting mine, but now that I know all THIS, I have fewer questions left!!
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Old 09-06-2014, 10:39 PM
 
Location: Caribou, Me.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by newenglandgirl View Post
Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb, March, April...six and counting. (Winter to me is heating season, snow or not.)

I suppose that if that is the way that one views things, then Maine is definitely not for them.
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Old 09-07-2014, 10:22 AM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by newenglandgirl View Post
For someone who cannot stand long, very cold/snowy winters, you must realize that New England IS winter....6 months out of the year. I would advise anyone with romantic ideas about the Northeast who cannot stand cold to seriously reconsider. There are many other milder regions, nice ones at that, to make a new start in life.

(I can do our winters.)
You offer some good advice and I agree winter is heat season and the cost associated with that is something to consider. Even if a person can stand the cold and snow, he/she might not want to pay the high heating bills. I've seen it snow a considerable amount on Halloween and two feet on April 20. That snow was melted within two weeks. lol My mom said she saw it snow on Memorial Day one time. Each winter is different. For example, one winter might be cold with very little snow so a newbie would say driving an hour to work in the winter wasn't so bad. The next winter could offer snow totals over 100 inches. Anyone thinking of making the move probably should make the move on a trial basis for a number of years with the option to leave. This would mean don't buy a house until you are sure you want to stay. Have an exit plan. Of course visiting in January or February is a good start. I love Maine, the ocean and the Maine coast so AZ would be a definite NO for me.

Anyone who posts that they HATE the cold really shouldn't have thinking about moving to Maine in the same paragraph. lol Will he/she have to get out in the weather early in the a.m. to go to work? Will he/she have a garage for their vehicle or will he/she have to clean the snow/ice off the vehicle before going to work? Will he/she like having to pay for snow plowing services or will he/she buy a truck with a plow? Will he/she own a vehicle that goes good in snow or will he/she have to buy one that goes good in snow? Will he/she just not go anywhere if it snows or if the temp dips below 32 degrees? lol again

I had a good friend who left Maine for a CA adventure in his younger years. The Rodney King incident fairly close to his house was the catalyst for him to come home. He decided his children should grow up in Maine. He had a job lined up over the phone before he returned. He didn't regret the decision to come home.

Last edited by mainegrl2011; 09-07-2014 at 10:52 AM..
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Old 09-07-2014, 10:54 AM
 
Location: Caribou, Me.
6,928 posts, read 5,902,091 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mainegrl2011 View Post
You offer some good advice and I agree winter is heat season and the cost associated with that is something to consider. Even if a person can stand the cold and snow, he/she might not want to pay the high heating bills. I've seen it snow a considerable amount on Halloween and two feet on April 20. That snow was melted within two weeks. lol My mom said she saw it snow on Memorial Day one time. Each winter is different. For example, one winter might be cold with very little snow so a newbie would say driving an hour to work in the winter wasn't so bad. The next winter could offer snow totals over 100 inches. Anyone thinking of making the move probably should make the move on a trial basis for a number of years with the option to leave. This would mean don't buy a house until you are sure you want to stay. Have an exit plan. Of course visiting in January or February is a good start. I love Maine, the ocean and the Maine coast so AZ would be a definite NO for me.

Anyone who posts that they HATE the cold really shouldn't have thinking about moving to Maine in the same paragraph. lol Will he/she have to get out in the weather early in the a.m. to go to work? Will he/she have a garage for their vehicle or will he/she have to clean the snow/ice off the vehicle before going to work? Will he/she like having to pay for snow plowing services or will he/she buy a truck with a plow? Will he/she own a vehicle that goes good in snow or will he/she have to buy one that goes good in snow? Will he/she just not go anywhere if it snows or if the temp dips below 32 degrees? lol again

I had a good friend who left Maine for a CA adventure in his younger years. The Rodney King incident fairly close to his house was the catalyst for him to come home. He decided his children should grow up in Maine. He had a job lined up over the phone before he returned. He didn't regret the decision to come home.

Good points. But I have also seen it in the 70s in March, and in the 80s in October. And that's way up here.
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Old 09-07-2014, 11:47 AM
 
Location: Forests of Maine
37,453 posts, read 61,366,570 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DesM View Post
... Contrast that to Maine where, if you listen to Stephen King or Jessica Fletcher, people are dropping like flies and there's some serious paranormal vortex causing enough mayhem that the only line of work that pays well is in the ghostbusting industry.
Fiction writers write fiction. It is written as entertainment and has no bearing on reality.



Quote:
Originally Posted by mainegrl2011 View Post
... Anyone who posts that they HATE the cold really shouldn't have thinking about moving to Maine in the same paragraph.
Sadly, I agree.
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Old 09-07-2014, 07:30 PM
 
1,883 posts, read 2,892,931 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by maineguy8888 View Post
Good points. But I have also seen it in the 70s in March, and in the 80s in October. And that's way up here.
I think we're trying to find a norm and maybe the only one is in this saying, "If you don't like Maine weather, wait a minute." Some say "If you don't like New England weather, wait a minute." Maybe unpredictability is the only thing predictable. A person obsessed with Maine weather could study several years of stats to see what's happened in the past, then he/she will know if what is happening currently has ever happened previously. Living in Maine can teach a person the importance of being prepared.
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Old 09-07-2014, 08:10 PM
 
Location: Forests of Maine
37,453 posts, read 61,366,570 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mainegrl2011 View Post
... Living in Maine can teach a person the importance of being prepared.
I can certainly see that.

Winter might be very mild, or it might be rather severe.

You might lose power today, or it might be 2 weeks before the next time you lose power. There have been months when we thought that we might get through the entire month without losing power. But so far we have not seen such a month. We are rather new to Maine. I am sure that old time Mainers have seen stretches of 45 or 60 days straight without power outage.

Be prepared
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Old 09-07-2014, 09:39 PM
 
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Just chiming in this has been a great topic for me to peruse as I consider this move. I find cold snowy winters and a proper fall preferable to the constant spring/summer I have experienced here in california nice for awhile but you start missing a proper xmas and thanksgiving etc. with the snow and foliage
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Old 09-08-2014, 10:13 AM
 
Location: Near a river
16,042 posts, read 21,965,744 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by maineguy8888 View Post
I suppose that if that is the way that one views things, then Maine is definitely not for them.
One can view it as okay or cool, or not okay and definitely not cool. (I'm okay with it as a native, but some years I do think of escaping south).

Someone hoping for the best (4 or 5 months of moderate cold) could possibly get that up here (once every few years), but may be dismayed if the cold is consistently in the lower digits around 0 or below and the cold/damp/wet winter lingers into April. We've kept our wood stove going through most of April most years, not on full blast like in Feb, but cold snow on top of daffodils is not all that unusual.

I will say that the deep cold/snow/blizzards (with the exception of few years ago) doesn't really start normally in November, though the heating season certainly does.
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Old 09-08-2014, 10:21 AM
 
Location: Near a river
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I have lived many years (I am a senior) and have lived outside of New England, though I'm a native here and have been back here 25 years. I would seriously suggest that climate NOT be a deal breaker for moving to a region that one otherwise has a good "fit" with. And not just beauty of the landscape, either. Our lives revolve around other people (the kind we agree with) and activities we enjoy. I've said before that one could live in a virtual paradise weather-wise and beauty-wise, but if there's few or no people there to connect with, or activities to connect with, most would not be happy. I'll take New England, and would specifically take Maine, even with our climate.
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