St. Louis winter vs. Chicago winter (live, deal, areas)

[MeetMeinSTL]

Are the winters in St. Louis harsh?

[stlsmoore]

Compared to Chicago....not at all, I would say we have an average winter here. I remember the trips I made to Milwaukee, Detriot, and South Dakota the last few years during winter and I always remembering how unprepared I was. For me personally anything at 32 degrees or more I can deal with, but when it starts hitting 25 degrees and below then I start to become miserable.

[MeetMeinSTL]

Originally Posted by stlsmoore

Compared to Chicago....not at all, I would say we have an average winter here. I remember the trips I made to Milwaukee, Detriot, and South Dakota the last few years during winter and I always remembering how unprepared I was. For me personally anything at 32 degrees or more I can deal with, but when it starts hitting 25 degrees and below then I start to become miserable.

So how many bitter cold days on average does St. Louis usually have?

[PalmBch]

St. Louis has slightly milder winters than Chicago (Especially daytime). Chicago also receives much more snowfall.

St. Louis avg. January high/low temp.: 38/21
Chicago avg. January high/low temp.: 32/18

[PalmBch]

Originally Posted by MeetMeinSTL

So how many bitter cold days on average does St. Louis usually have?

St. Louis has on avg. 12 days/year with temperatures below 10F (bitter cold days)

[STLMetro]

In comparison to Chicago, St. Louis is not even in the same ballpark. My fiance lives in Chicago and we are from St. Louis and I can safely say it is much worse in Chicago. There is a terrible biting wind that comes off the lake in Chicago almost every day while St. Louis is a relatively normal winter.

[Fishtacos]

One word, ...drum roll please...WIND!

Chicago may be the Windy City because of politics and not weather but it might as well have been called it for that reason too.

It's all about the wind.

Then you talk about Lake Effect snow. Then you talk about how once it snows, the snow stays on the ground for most of the winter in Chicago, where often times in St. Louis it'll be well above freezing the next day and melt.

St. Louis is not the tropics, nor imo is it a "nice" winter, but there is a significant difference in several areas of winter weather than Chicago. Wind, sun, (even though it isn't a lot in Stl, it's more) snow, and so on...

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by MeetMeinSTL

Are the winters in St. Louis harsh?

St. Louis has milder winters. On occasion, they have some of the worst ice storms I have experienced anywhere. It is very unpleasant.

[CarrieNeno]

My hubby's whole fam is from outside of Chicago. We are slightly warmer, so we get more slush, sleet, and ice... while our Illinois neighbors get more powder. We don't have the harsh wind though!!

[aeiouy]

Everyone I know who lives in ChiTown says it seems winter doesn't end until April up there, whereas in St Louis, our tulips and spring flowers are blooming.