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Hey all, I was wondering what's the warmest or coldest climate you would be willing to withstand for say....
1 year. There are no actual incentives to live there ( financial etc.) just imagine you had the same job so there is no bias towards money.
Well I have actually lived in both the hot and cold and even the rainiest too!
Minnesota where I grew up - colder then Alaska at times!
Australia - heat wave just this year of 120 degrees Fahrenheit for a number of days.
UK - rainiest one year there was some rain on 360 days out of 365 days.
Hey all, I was wondering what's the warmest or coldest climate you would be willing to withstand for say....
1 year.
If we're talking about 1 year only, I could stay and work even on Antarctica, on some scientific base. It could be interesting.
On a warmer side: Today is a 24C sunny windless day and I feel terribly sleepy. It's hard to stay focused at work to me. In such conditions I could usually do nothing (but I can't).
Anywhere with summer average high temperature below 28C I think...
I don't get it...if there are no incentives, why would one chose to live in a less enjoyable place then the current one? I could withstand pretty much anywhere for 1 year given that there is sufficient incentive, bar very cloudy places. Actually I am much more repelled by cloudy climates than cold ones (I would take Calgary over Chongqing).
As a rule of thumb though, I always say that Paris is my lower limit for climate tolerance (in terms of cool winters-cool summers-cloud combination). I couldn't imagine living in Leeds or Copenhagen or Anchorage for very long.
More generally, I would say the following would be unacceptable:
*Average lows colder than -15°C, no matter how sunny the place is
*Sunshine hours lower than 1500, no matter how warm the place is
**Any increase in either cloudiness or cold yielding stricter criteria for the other
Now in terms of heat tolerance:
*With A/C: no limit, provided that conditions remain non lethal
*Without A/C: I wouldn't like to handle much warmer than about 26/37°C averages, but would still take this anytime over say Reykjavik
Sunshine tolerance: no upper limit
Aridity tolerance: no limit, I wouldn't mind living in a (warm) desert though I would miss the rain (but not a deal breaker)
***I wouldn't mind this at all, actually I would enjoy those winters (brief, a lot of snow and SUNNY and all the other months are at least as warm and sunny as Nice)
In the short-term, I'd be willing to try out just about any climate, even the uncomfortable ones. I don't think I'd want to try out the really extreme climates, such as places where it's very cold all or most of the year with ugly barren scenery (Iqaluit, Alert, Barrow, Vostok, etc.) or climates that feature either extreme heat all or most of the year, or summers that are simply so hot that the rest of the year can't make up for it (Mecca, Dallol, Death Valley, etc.).
Other than that, I'd be willing to experience just about any climate for a short period of time. Even ultra gloomy places like Bergen, Reykjavik, Torshavn, etc. would be fine with me for a year or whatever, as would Yakutsk, and certain desert/tropical climates, as well as places like Dallas or Houston. I find different types of climates and weather very interesting and while there are many that I would never consider living in, spending a few months to a year in such climates to see what it's really like would be quite a worthwhile experience, in my opinion. Frankly it kind of surprises me how many people have no interest in experiencing different types of climates and weather even in the short-term if isn't within their (sometimes small) comfort zones.
Long-Term
As far as cold winters go, I'd be willing to live somewhere with winters even colder (but not longer) than my hometown of Saskatoon, provided summers were longer and/or warmer. Intensity of winter isn't my problem so much as duration - I'd much rather have three months of lows at -30, followed by a long warm summer, than 6 months of lows at -10 followed by a short, cool summer.
As far as cold yearly mean goes, Saskatoon really is the bottom of my tolerance - colder winters would be alright with longer, warmer summers, but if the overall yearly temperature went down at all (meaning either cooler summers, or colder winters without better summers) that wouldn't be worth it for me.
And I don't think I would live in cool, gloomy climates that rarely/never get really cold but never get really warm either (like the aforementioned Bergen, Reykjavik, Torshavn, etc.) As mentioned above I'd definitely be willing to try those out short-term, but the lack of summer and perpetual chill would definitely get to me after a while, so I wouldn't be willing to settle down in a climate like that.
On the warm end of the spectrum I don't actually have enough experience with hot weather to say what I can or can't stand long term, but I imagine that subtropical climates with cool/mild winters to give a break from the heat (like Mediterranean climates) would probably be one of the most comfortable types of climate for me (though I'd prefer to have stormy, humid summers and dry winters, rather than the wet winter/dry summer precipitation pattern most Mediterranean climates feature). Tropical climates that are hot but don't get too extreme (like Miami or Singapore) would probably be okay, but again I have no idea whether I would adjust well to them or not in the long-term. I certainly wouldn't go any warmer than that.
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I could withstand pretty much anywhere for 1 year given that there is sufficient incentive, bar very cloudy places. Actually I am much more repelled by cloudy climates than cold ones (I would take Calgary over Chongqing).
