Depends on where you are. Miserable in hotter places I’m sure, but in Sweden it’s quite honestly glorious. Sun up from 03:30 to 22 in Stockholm, and it never quite gets dark. Does wonders for your mood.
Winter, however, is a cold, dark and wet mess. Truly depressive.
Spring and autumn are alright, but suffer from just a little bit too much rain.
Naturally, the climate crisis is making things slightly too warm for comfort now, and we’re going to have to retrofit all homes to withstand heat better before too long.
Yeah, exactly. Winters in LA or LA might be different. But, winters in places with months and months of snow are awful. You can’t do much outside because it’s too cold. You can’t have your windows open to get some fresh air because it’s too cold. You can dress properly to do outdoor activities, but it often requires so many layers that it’s really uncomfortable. Plus, you can’t have any gaps. Your neck, wrists, ankles are often places where the cold can get in, or worse they can get wet and being cold and wet is awful.
In addition, the world is just miserable in winter. There’s almost nothing alive outside other than other humans. No grass, many trees lose all their leaves, birds migrate away, everything is shades of grey or brown. Christmas can be fun, and it’s no coincidence that it’s celebrated almost exactly on the darkest day of the year. That’s when we need a lot of pretty lights and cheer. But, Christmas is just the beginning of winter. What follows is months of gloomy grey cold.
And, while there are outdoor winter sports, you need special footwear for all of them because of the snow and ice. You can’t even walk across a field or a park without extra effort because of all the snow. Even key winter sports like skating or hockey, if played outside, require that you at a minimum spend a lot of time shovelling all the snow off the ice surface. For a good experience you also have to flood and smooth the ice periodically. So, it’s a lot of work.
Having said all that, if I had to choose between -30 and +40, I’d probably choose -30, because at least you can put on appropriate gear for that and spend some time outside doing something fun. It may be dark and it may be grey, but it’s possible to dress for the weather. When it’s too hot, you really can’t spend any time outside, without risking your life, and it certainly isn’t possible to do anything active. But if the choice is between -30 and +30, give me the +30 any day.
I honestly love the solitude that harsh winters bring. And all the heavy clothing I get to wear, the much longer nights, going through my stockpile of canned and preserved goods. There have been winters where I was snowed in for weeks, and they were glorious
It’s true, the brain and body need extra care to prevent depression during winter, but I’m much more depressed during the long, blistering hot summer months
We had the driest period in 100 years a month or two ago, didn’t rain for 5 weeks or something. Back to 18-20C and only raining half the time so better than usual I guess aye
Exactly. In Seattle, summer is the best. High of 75 most days and because of the water surround the city, it only gets down to high 50’s at night. And our winters aren’t too bad. 45F/40F averages, just wet with the light rain.
But don’t tell anyone because we don’t want more people moving here!
100%. The current city density plan will not cut it with the current growth projections. We’re trying our damnedest by being active in many advocacy groups!
In Alaska all of the seasons have their charm, except Spring. Spring is a bad time.
The thick ice on the roads starts to melt and you have wet ice for an unacceptably long time. All of the soft fluffy white snow on the sides of the road hardens and gets covered in dirt being spread to make roads drivable. Every time you leave the house it’s a harrowing experience, and everyone’s so used to the danger of driving they just shrug and go ”yeah, it’s bad out there huh?” Randomly you get a cold snap without snow just to make you suffer a bit before it goes back to thawing.
Depends on where you are. Miserable in hotter places I’m sure, but in Sweden it’s quite honestly glorious. Sun up from 03:30 to 22 in Stockholm, and it never quite gets dark. Does wonders for your mood.
Winter, however, is a cold, dark and wet mess. Truly depressive.
Spring and autumn are alright, but suffer from just a little bit too much rain.
Naturally, the climate crisis is making things slightly too warm for comfort now, and we’re going to have to retrofit all homes to withstand heat better before too long.
Anyone saying summer ‘only has good pr’ doesn’t have winters like that.
I see summer as a nice relief from the depressing winter
Yeah, exactly. Winters in LA or LA might be different. But, winters in places with months and months of snow are awful. You can’t do much outside because it’s too cold. You can’t have your windows open to get some fresh air because it’s too cold. You can dress properly to do outdoor activities, but it often requires so many layers that it’s really uncomfortable. Plus, you can’t have any gaps. Your neck, wrists, ankles are often places where the cold can get in, or worse they can get wet and being cold and wet is awful.
In addition, the world is just miserable in winter. There’s almost nothing alive outside other than other humans. No grass, many trees lose all their leaves, birds migrate away, everything is shades of grey or brown. Christmas can be fun, and it’s no coincidence that it’s celebrated almost exactly on the darkest day of the year. That’s when we need a lot of pretty lights and cheer. But, Christmas is just the beginning of winter. What follows is months of gloomy grey cold.
And, while there are outdoor winter sports, you need special footwear for all of them because of the snow and ice. You can’t even walk across a field or a park without extra effort because of all the snow. Even key winter sports like skating or hockey, if played outside, require that you at a minimum spend a lot of time shovelling all the snow off the ice surface. For a good experience you also have to flood and smooth the ice periodically. So, it’s a lot of work.
Having said all that, if I had to choose between -30 and +40, I’d probably choose -30, because at least you can put on appropriate gear for that and spend some time outside doing something fun. It may be dark and it may be grey, but it’s possible to dress for the weather. When it’s too hot, you really can’t spend any time outside, without risking your life, and it certainly isn’t possible to do anything active. But if the choice is between -30 and +30, give me the +30 any day.
We’re winters do suck. Snowy winters are my jam though, even with the lack of day light, the snow and quiet make up for it.
Hot humid summers, and especially mosquitoes, can fuck right off. The extra daylight is nice though
I honestly love the solitude that harsh winters bring. And all the heavy clothing I get to wear, the much longer nights, going through my stockpile of canned and preserved goods. There have been winters where I was snowed in for weeks, and they were glorious
It’s true, the brain and body need extra care to prevent depression during winter, but I’m much more depressed during the long, blistering hot summer months
Yeah that winter sounds fun.
Try 7 months of dark at 3pm and grey overcast and mild drizzle everyday.
Yes please
Where do I sign up?
Cumbernauld
Winter is quite nice when there is snow. We don’t get that in Stockholm, for the most part.
Yep summer in Scotland just means it rains slightly less and doesn’t get dark at 3pm
I’ve been told it’s positively Mediterranean this year though, is that right?
We had the driest period in 100 years a month or two ago, didn’t rain for 5 weeks or something. Back to 18-20C and only raining half the time so better than usual I guess aye
20C is like the most you’re gonna get out of a scottish summer with some exceptions lol
Exactly. In Seattle, summer is the best. High of 75 most days and because of the water surround the city, it only gets down to high 50’s at night. And our winters aren’t too bad. 45F/40F averages, just wet with the light rain.
But don’t tell anyone because we don’t want more people moving here!
You need to build more housing so that more people can enjoy it, but more significantly so that the people already there can afford it.
100%. The current city density plan will not cut it with the current growth projections. We’re trying our damnedest by being active in many advocacy groups!
Oh my. How bothersome.
I know you didn’t mean it that way, just the understatement had me cackling.
Well, it begins with too warm for comfort here, and then it gets progressively worse.
In Alaska all of the seasons have their charm, except Spring. Spring is a bad time.
The thick ice on the roads starts to melt and you have wet ice for an unacceptably long time. All of the soft fluffy white snow on the sides of the road hardens and gets covered in dirt being spread to make roads drivable. Every time you leave the house it’s a harrowing experience, and everyone’s so used to the danger of driving they just shrug and go ”yeah, it’s bad out there huh?” Randomly you get a cold snap without snow just to make you suffer a bit before it goes back to thawing.