The New England winter - how bad is it? (Boston: how much, home)

[nicole.cpp]

I am a Texan who cringes at the thought of 30-40 degrees F with enough humidity/rain, so I'm wondering just how much more terrible the winters might be up north.

Is winter humid in places like Boston, too, or is it a bearable, drier cold (or does it depend on how close you are to the coast)?

I guess the bottom line is this (since I'm genuinely considering looking for tech jobs up north in the near future): Is the winter so dark and awful and blizzard-y that waking up and going to work is pretty much hell on earth?

[sfosyd]

Boston is actually pretty sunny during the winter much more so than Upstate New York, Ohio and places like that. I think it's even sunnier than North Carolina.

The two issues you will likely face:

1). The length of the winter. Boston stays cold for a long time due to the cold ocean water. April is still very much a cold month.

2). The short days. Boston is very east so some days it is dark by 4:15pm. As a trade off, the mornings are much lighter than places further west in the Eastern time zone.

In my opinion, the autumn is great, even in December, your pretty much in the mood for the colder weather. January, February, March and even April are tough. The rest of the year is great.

[BostonMike7]

Lets see

You'll get temps all the way down to 0 degrees F, although typical mid-winter is 20-30 degrees. It's dry. There's the potential for decent snow from 6" up to 24" in one storm. A good winter vehicle is ideal as it's business as usual during more minor snowstorms. They really only close down if there is a major storm coming through, and it's usually for a day and everyone is out the next day. My point being, if it snows, you might have to drive in it.

[nicole.cpp]

Originally Posted by sfosyd

2). The short days. Boston is very east so some days it is dark by 4:15pm. As a trade off, the mornings are much lighter than places further west in the Eastern time zone.

This is why I hate the "Fall back" time change with a burning passion...because let's make that precious time after work PITCH BLACK! GREAT IDEA! And to think that I still complain down here when we get sun until 5:15-ish at worst...

Am I the only one who would gladly allow it to be dark until 10 AM if we could have nice, light evenings instead? Many of us are in the office in the morning, anyway!

[magicshark]

Personally I think New England winters are wonderful. My only complaint is not enough snow. It is not humid in the winter in fact I run a humidifier all winter because how dry it is.
If you want to make winter here more tolerable and even enjoyable I strongly suggest you learn to ski/snowboard. Try cross country skiing or snowshoeing. Ice skating and sledding are really fun. Give snow a chance you might just like it!

[hken]

I left Boston many years ago for SoCal and the #1 reason why the weather bugged me was the cloudy/rainy/wetness. A crisp cold sunny day actually feels quite nice and the snow is actually manageable. It's just all those other crappy days that really bugged me ESPECIALLY the rain. I recall one summer in my 20's where I would slave all week long and it seemed like every freaking weekend it rained. Drove me nuts.

[MisfitBanana]

Originally Posted by nicole.cpp

This is why I hate the "Fall back" time change with a burning passion...because let's make that precious time after work PITCH BLACK! GREAT IDEA! And to think that I still complain down here when we get sun until 5:15-ish at worst...

Am I the only one who would gladly allow it to be dark until 10 AM if we could have nice, light evenings instead? Many of us are in the office in the morning, anyway!

No, you're not. I'm not a morning person, so I wouldn't ever get up before work to run errands, etc. I'd rather have daylight when I'm off work to run errands and not feel like I should already be in bed.

[Verseau]

Originally Posted by nicole.cpp

I guess the bottom line is this (since I'm genuinely considering looking for tech jobs up north in the near future): Is the winter so dark and awful and blizzard-y that waking up and going to work is pretty much hell on earth?

I wouldn't say so. As the others pointed out above, Boston is sunnier than a lot of other places in the Northeast/Midwest during the winter, which for me makes a huge difference. I've spent winters in places that didn't get as cold/snowy as Boston but were considerably cloudier (e.g. London, Paris), and it was miserable for me.

I'm also the kind of person who finds it difficult to wake up when it's dark out, so I really appreciate the early sunrise in Boston and don't mind the early sunset as much. It can get depressing after a while, but the expansion of Daylight Saving Time a few years ago has helped bring relief earlier in the year.

It doesn't snow in Boston all winter long (unlike where I grew up in central NH), but there are definitely pros and cons to a snowy winter. There are the obvious nuisances involved with snow (shoveling, walking over snowbanks, etc.), but the white stuff also reflects a lot of light, which helps with the sunlight deficit in winter and makes the city look nicer, at least for a while. It also makes it easier to get outside and do winter sports without having to haul it up to the White Mountains or whatnot. It's for this reason that I prefer a snowy winter in Boston to a snowless one, although I know there are plenty of people who feel the opposite.

It's definitely not all doom-and-gloom - life goes on as normal in the city during the winter. December is exciting with Christmastime and the anticipation of the first few snowfalls; even January is fine for me because winter is still novel and I'm typically waiting for enough accumulation to do winter sports on a regular basis. By February, winter starts to drag, and by March it can feel unbearable. That, to me, is the only truly hard thing about New England winters - not the cold, not the snow, not the short days - but the length of them.

On the other hand, those teasingly warm days that often arrive in March and give us hints of spring are all the more enjoyable when winter has dragged on. We had a couple of days over 80 degrees in March 2012, and I remember lounging on the grass at Castle Island after work in shorts and a T-shirt with my friends. Man, that was nice. April can be unpredictable weather-wise, but it's usually a considerable improvement, with flowers blooming left and right and much more comfortable temperatures. Your appreciation of springtime will increase tenfold after experiencing a true winter.

Late February to mid-March is usually one of my least favorite times of year, but overall I don't dislike New England winters. I love the beauty of a fresh snowfall, the cozy atmosphere of a warm home or coffee shop, and the great outdoor activities that a New England winter provides.

[kingeorge]

Weather is all over the place. Winters tend to be cold, snowy, and long. But here and there there comes one that is above average pleasant. March/April can be very rainy and cold and that is why we have "mud season" before real spring starts. Spring often tends to be quite short, as we are quickly whisked into summer heat, humidity, storms. Fall can be glorious or very rainy and cold, or very hot. You can not bet on a consistent seasons patterns from year to year. We take it as we go.

[mmyk72]

I was from TX and never imaged living anywhere cold.. well, I moved here and got used to it. I still don't like the cold, but then I also lost my tolerance for the hot humid TX Gulf Coast climate. I'll never be a skier or snowboarder since I don't like freezing my butt off, but I don't mind living in the NE anymore.

I also thought of winter as cold, dark, and miserable when I was a Southerner. But in reality, the sky is more often than not bright and clear. The air is crisp and dry. With a good jacket, scarf & gloves, you can walk around pretty comfortably on a good day. Now when and after it snows, it gets messy like you'd never image down in TX. Roads are covered in slush for days/weeks, the salt and dirt make everything dirty.

The most troublesome aspect to me was having to remove snow (no you can't just dump hot water on your car and walk back into the house). So once there's 4+ inches, you have to plan time shoveling snow off the driveway and clearing it off your car. Good thing is that happens not too often (it's not like 'heavy' snowfall happens weekly). I remember having to do that maybe 6x last winter (with 2x being massive killer amounts). However, 2 winters ago, I didn't even have to shovel at all since that season was warm.