How long are your seasons?

[WriterDom]

We have two months of Winter. January and February. Lows this year have been around 17 or so and it happened a couple of times. By the end of February, daffodils start blooming.

Two months of Spring. March and April.

I'd have to put May and September into summer. It's never gotten below freezing in either. Average highs, 79 and 82. You can have a cool day in September, but after the dog days of summer it's exhilarating. So five months of Summer.

Three months of Fall. I've never had a white Christmas. It did snow 4 inches once before Christmas but melted.

I don't why anyone would want to live somewhere like Fargo ND. For bragging rights on how well you drive in the snow? Or to make fun of us when we close schools if there is a dusting of white stuff on the roads?

Florida is starting to sound good. But it's flat as the Midwest. I do like my mountains.

 

[ecstaticsub]

I want to be somewhere with 4 months of spring, 4 months of fall and 2 inch of winter and summer. I want snow to fall only on the ground, not the streets in winter. In summer I want very little humidity (but I want some--no Arizona type heat) but no misquitos.

Now to reality--thanks to the military I've lived all over the country. I have come to the conclusion that for me I would rather have 5 ft of snow than 115 degree days. I would also rather have 5 ft of snow than 3 months of hot humid weather.

Where I live now I'm not sure how long my seasons are..we will be moving this summer again anyway.

 

[Sharon_]

I want to be somewhere with 4 months of spring, 4 months of fall and 2 inch of winter and summer. I want snow to fall only on the ground, not the streets in winter. In summer I want very little humidity (but I want some--no Arizona type heat) but no misquitos.

Now to reality--thanks to the military I've lived all over the country. I have come to the conclusion that for me I would rather have 5 ft of snow than 115 degree days. I would also rather have 5 ft of snow than 3 months of hot humid weather.

Where I live now I'm not sure how long my seasons are..we will be moving this summer again anyway.

The Ohio River Valley is way too unpredictable to answer this. It was 3 below zero yesterday morning and gonna be 55 degrees today.

Yesterday I had to don zero degree snow boots, wool toboggan, two layers of gloves and use my sled to go down the holler to bring up some firewood (after I pried nearly a foot of snow and ice pack off the tarp). This Sunday it will be barefoot weather.

March is always often windy. April is always often wet. November is most always dank and gray. August is always repressively hot, humid and dry.

All the other months are up for grabs, whatever season wants to grab all or a portion of them.

For the winter months, I rely on what the wooly worms and tree rats say; they're always right. They said it was going to be a hard winter, and so it is.

For the warm months I rely on The Old Farmer's Almanac, which is mostly right (and not to be confused with Harris' Almanac, which is crap).

This year TOFA says last frost date is Apr. 13--instead of our generations' long standard of 'no setting plants till Mother's Day Weekend'.

So apparently, we're going to be warm early.

 

[Red_Hot_Mama]

Well, where we are now is for sure not where i want to be. growing up in S FL I like the heat and humidity or at least I like it more than the cold.

being up north our seasons last...
summer 2 months, fall 3 months (maybe), winter way too long ....4 or 5 months, spring 2 or 3 months depending how long winter was.

I personally would love to go back to 2 seasons.....warm and warmer

 

[Windflower]

There are two seasons in my neck of the woods: too cold and too hot.

Anyone who has spent an entire lifetime living in my neck of the woods will tell you to forget what the calendar claims. There is NO SPRING and NO AUTUMN here. Not really.

Right now, it is the TOO COLD season.

COLD season: Mid-September to about mid-June (depending on another hit or miss deal, sometimes we get a few staggered days tossed in, of 80F or more, as early as April). Snow is unpredictable, some years we get almost none and then we get these random years of nonstop snowstorms to make up for those. This year it has only rained once since November, as far as I recall. There has been snow on the ground since just after Thanksgiving (I can no longer tell how much falls each storm, it just piles up on top of what was left from the last one).

HOT season: mid-June to about mid-September (depending on how Indian Summer occurs or not, that's a hit or miss deal).
By the last week of June it is always too hot and sticky humid. The climate between upstairs and downstairs is flipflopped during the hot season. No AC here, so my sweat soaked tanktop keeps me cooler as I travel between the two climate 'zones' of upstairs and down.

I live across the road from a river (woods border the backyard) in a very old town in New England in a house which is about as old as the town (second oldest dwelling in town here, included in the National Register of Historic Places, about 243 years old give or take a year or two--my memory sucks). This house (8 rooms to include two full bathrooms and 3 bedrooms, plus a large front porch and a large upstairs balcony with a hottub) has an addition (two story, connects one of the bedrooms, the kitchen and the upstairs bath) which is about ten years old. There's also a cellar and an attic, and the cellar is almost always the most comfortable place in the house as far as climate. Woke at 7am and the addition upstairs was 85F (my sinuses are on fire and my throat is raw) and downstairs was 55F. It was 9F outside. Two hours later it is now 14F outside. Temps indoors haven't changed at all.

FRONT PORCH VIEW
http://i378.photobucket.com/albums/oo227/allyourpixelsbelongstous/snow-thelane-dec192008-wp.jpg

BACK BALCONY VIEW
http://i378.photobucket.com/albums/oo227/allyourpixelsbelongstous/snowed-in-121908b.jpg

 

[Netzach]

Winter gets going usually in December, lately late December, and goes through March. It's as brutal as they say, though probably less snowy than a lot of people imagine.

April is wet and melty. That's spring.

and then June July Aug. are hot. Well, to me hot. To someone in DC MD VA or something just summer. I don't like heat. I mean, sure I like dry 82 as much as the next person, but that's the upper end of my scale unless there's some very freakin' blue-green water onsite.

Fall is Sept-Nov and frankly it's why I live here. It rivals and often surpasses those New England autumns everyone loves.

As for what's so damn appealing when there are no mountains and you can watch your dog run away for a week?

Big sky, my friend. Big ass sky. It seems somehow much closer than anywhere else, I can't really explain that.

If I need a mountainous fix, there's always the Iron Range and north shore, which are dead ringers, I mean dead ringers for the upper Hudson valley.

 

[FurryFury]

I was just thinking this yesterday. I need to get somewhere warmer like Key West!

We have two months of Winter. January and February. Lows this year have been around 17 or so and it happened a couple of times. By the end of February, daffodils start blooming.

Two months of Spring. March and April.

I'd have to put May and September into summer. It's never gotten below freezing in either. Average highs, 79 and 82. You can have a cool day in September, but after the dog days of summer it's exhilarating. So five months of Summer.

Three months of Fall. I've never had a white Christmas. It did snow 4 inches once before Christmas but melted.

I don't why anyone would want to live somewhere like Fargo ND. For bragging rights on how well you drive in the snow? Or to make fun of us when we close schools if there is a dusting of white stuff on the roads?

Florida is starting to sound good. But it's flat as the Midwest. I do like my mountains.

 

[JMohegan]

We have two months of Winter. January and February. Lows this year have been around 17 or so and it happened a couple of times. By the end of February, daffodils start blooming.

Two months of Spring. March and April.

I'd have to put May and September into summer. It's never gotten below freezing in either. Average highs, 79 and 82. You can have a cool day in September, but after the dog days of summer it's exhilarating. So five months of Summer.

Three months of Fall. I've never had a white Christmas. It did snow 4 inches once before Christmas but melted.

I don't why anyone would want to live somewhere like Fargo ND. For bragging rights on how well you drive in the snow? Or to make fun of us when we close schools if there is a dusting of white stuff on the roads?

Florida is starting to sound good. But it's flat as the Midwest. I do like my mountains.

I don't live in Fargo, but have to say that cross country skiing is one of my favorite things to do. Faster than running, even more invigorating - damn. I'd do it every day, if I could.

Don't want to alarm you, WD, but you sound old! Seriously. There's a point when people start mumbling about temperature and moving to Florida or AZ or something, and I start thinking: wow. They're checking out!

 

[CurlyKat]

Winter: 5 months, November-March
Spring: 2 months, April-May, sometimes 3 (June sneaks in)
Summer: 2-3 months, June-August
Fall: 2 months, September-October

The winter is ENTIRELY too long and cold. I miss the days of winter not really existing; spring, summer, and fall were all nice seasons. Summer here is pretty and generally pretty comfortable, highs in the low 80s most of the time and much cooler at night. The long days with lots of sunlight are a plus, too, but the darkness in the winter far outweighs those positives.

Man I miss Texas now.

 

[Netzach]

I don't live in Fargo, but have to say that cross country skiing is one of my favorite things to do. Faster than running, even more invigorating - damn. I'd do it every day, if I could.

Me too, but balancing -45 with not enough snow, you get maybe a week at a time sometimes.

 

[Netzach]

I don't live in Fargo, but have to say that cross country skiing is one of my favorite things to do. Faster than running, even more invigorating - damn. I'd do it every day, if I could.

Don't want to alarm you, WD, but you sound old! Seriously. There's a point when people start mumbling about temperature and moving to Florida or AZ or something, and I start thinking: wow. They're checking out!

Here's what kills me - everyone I know from here, college age up, is constantly saying they're moving to AZ, CA, FL - anywhere warm. M is always making those noises and he's not old.

I think it's like the Bronx. Your family is always threatening to move, but you know they're going to die on that two mile radius if they haven't left by now.

 

[zoe8]

Winter: 5 months, November-March
Spring: 2 months, April-May, sometimes 3 (June sneaks in)
Summer: 2-3 months, June-August
Fall: 2 months, September-October

The winter is ENTIRELY too long and cold. I miss the days of winter not really existing; spring, summer, and fall were all nice seasons. Summer here is pretty and generally pretty comfortable, highs in the low 80s most of the time and much cooler at night. The long days with lots of sunlight are a plus, too, but the darkness in the winter far outweighs those positives.

This is pretty much Vermont seasons. Why do I live here? The long winter makes the summer that much sweeter. And spring... oh god the first day of spring.. the one when you can smell the earth unfurling after a long nap... well that day is worth all the cold in the world. I'd love living in a warm climate but I think it'd make me numb to the changes in seasons.

 

[Netzach]

This is pretty much Vermont seasons. Why do I live here? The long winter makes the summer that much sweeter. And spring... oh god the first day of spring.. the one when you can smell the earth unfurling after a long nap... well that day is worth all the cold in the world. I'd love living in a warm climate but I think it'd make me numb to the changes in seasons.

You at least have a spring. A wonderful, sap-is-running moist and loamy spring.

We just have frosty mud and shitty rain and then it's summmer.

 

[JMohegan]

Me too, but balancing -45 with not enough snow, you get maybe a week at a time sometimes.

Okay, -45 is a bit extreme.

Lake effect snow is the way to go. Like living in fairy land (from a certain perspective).

 

[graceanne]

We have two seasons in Oregon. Rain and summer. It rains between (approx) late September and early July. Then it warms up, but rarely gets to 100 degrees. Middle nineties.

 

[JMohegan]

This is pretty much Vermont seasons. Why do I live here? The long winter makes the summer that much sweeter. And spring... oh god the first day of spring.. the one when you can smell the earth unfurling after a long nap... well that day is worth all the cold in the world. I'd love living in a warm climate but I think it'd make me numb to the changes in seasons.

There's not much more beautiful than fall in Vermont.

And from an ethical/political perspective, I find it a heck of lot warmer than some of the southern states!

 

[WriterDom]

Two days ago it was 17. Two day from now it should hit 70. I'll take 70 any day of the week. With any luck I'll be planting lettuce in about two weeks. Then by April I can grow all kind of good stuff.

 

[Netzach]

Two days ago it was 17. Two day from now it should hit 70. I'll take 70 any day of the week. With any luck I'll be planting lettuce in about two weeks. Then by April I can grow all kind of good stuff.

Can you please describe your mid-July temps?

 

[Netzach]

We have two seasons in Oregon. Rain and summer. It rains between (approx) late September and early July. Then it warms up, but rarely gets to 100 degrees. Middle nineties.

I think I'd be one of those suicidal types who came up from CA and ran screaming.

 

[Netzach]

Okay, -45 is a bit extreme.

Lake effect snow is the way to go. Like living in fairy land (from a certain perspective).

OK, maybe not -45 most days of the week. But anything below zero and it's just not pleasant.

I love high 20's bright and crisp.

 

[zoe8]

There's not much more beautiful than fall in Vermont.

And from an ethical/political perspective, I find it a heck of lot warmer than some of the southern states!

Yes fall is beautiful here, I'm sad that it doesn't take my breath away like it used to. But the temperatures in fall are my favorite. Actually fall is my all around favorite season.

 

[Sharon_]

Two days ago it was 17. Two day from now it should hit 70. I'll take 70 any day of the week. With any luck I'll be planting lettuce in about two weeks. Then by April I can grow all kind of good stuff.

<cheeky grin>
My cabbage & broccoli seedlings are already up and about 2" tall (albeit in the house); chives, mints and onions seeds are in the starter tray.

It was 3 below zero yesterday morning, but I have faith in The Old Farmer's Almanac and it says no frost after Apr.13; accordingly, lettuces go in the starter tray on the 23 and in the ground on Mar.16.

 

[Scotsman69]

What a fascinating tour of US climatology!

In the west of Scotland, we have three seasons. Autumn (leaves starting to fall) starts in August. Generally windy and wet. Winter starts in October, windier and wetter, lasts till March.

But it's not cold (rarely drops below freezing) and the first daffodils are out in February. Spring is April till July and in a good year we may get some sunshine, late May/early June. Seldom hits 25C though.

In the east of Scotland (50 miles away) they get a summer, for a couple of weeks, and much more sunshine, much less rain. But they get snow and hard frosts in winter.

Don't let me put you off though. As long as you have goretex and waterproof shoes this is a great place, not least because it's wall-to-wall with history and ancient architecture. The architecture has to be built to last you see, so the old stuff goes on forever.

Now you understand why Scots are generally such a hardy breed...

 

[BiBunny]

Lemme see. East-Central Alabama, Winter lasts about 3 months. Spring lasts about 3 or 4 weeks, usually, around the end of April, beginning of May, before it gets blazingly hot. I'd say summer lasts 4 or 5 months, ending sometime around the middle of October. Then it gets cool for a bit, which is Fall. Then, it usually gets warm around right before Christmas, inexplicably, then it's Wintertime, LOL.

Weird place, this. I, personally, could do for less Winter and more Spring, but beggars can't be choosers, I suppose. It's 60 degrees today. It's supposed to get a little warmer over the weekend, then rain Tuesday and get cold again. That's pretty much typical weather pattern.

Where I live now is in the very last hurrah of the Appalachian foothills, and I hate it. Do. Not. Like. Mountains. Where I'm from, 70-ish miles south, it's a good bit flatter.

I'm moving somewhere along the Coastal Plain, which is the entire Southern half of the state, when I finish my master's. The temperature difference is negligible, but I do so miss flat ground. Hills and mountains make me feel hemmed in and vaguely nauseated. I may even move to Florida. Just the panhandle, though, not South Florida, where all the old folks move.

 

[WriterDom]

Can you please describe your mid-July temps?

About 5 degrees hotter than Minneapolis.

The average high is 88. Low is 68. Record is 106 but that was 1930. Maybe once or twice during the summer we'll get to 100. Once the Bermuda High builds up in late Spring no fronts come though. So the only rain is convective type thunderstorms which are hit and miss.

That's north Georgia. South you can add about 4 degrees.