My hometown--a dubious honor

[Deleted]

I just saw this on MSN and before I read it, knew that my hometown was one of them.


www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/28-places-in-america-with-the-harshest-winters/ss-BBXbL5R?ocid=spartanntp#image=12

"Harsh" doesn't quite cover it. I've used "brutal" in the past, but that doesn't quite cover it, either.

[Wisconsin Beth]

My City is in there too. 

[irishpad]

And mine

[Deleted]

The difference probably is that my hometown has fewer than 5,000 hardy souls. I've been gone more than 10 years. It might be down to fewer than 4,000 by now.

[busymom]

I guess I'm not surprised that my hometown made the list, too.  On the positive side, dealing with harsh winters makes you strong.  

[swamp]

Syracuse is there.   Not too far from me. 

[shanendoah]

I am confused by the fact that this list has many places in ND, and Casper, WY, but doesn't seem to think MT exists...

[Tennesseer]

Never mind the wall across our southern border.  We need a retractable wall across the south to keep the harshest winter weather from entering our part of the country.

[Deleted]

Nov 26, 2019 10:31:39 GMT -5 shanendoah said:

I am confused by the fact that this list has many places in ND, and Casper, WY, but doesn't seem to think MT exists...

Not confusing at all. There are so many worse places.

swamp, an acquaintance from my hometown now lives just north of Syracuse and can't wait to move back home because she misses the winters.

[swamp]

Nov 26, 2019 10:35:47 GMT -5 @missrigby said:

Nov 26, 2019 10:31:39 GMT -5 shanendoah said:

I am confused by the fact that this list has many places in ND, and Casper, WY, but doesn't seem to think MT exists...

Not confusing at all. There are so many worse places.

swamp , an acquaintance from my hometown now lives just north of Syracuse and can't wait to move back home because she misses the winters.

they get plenty of winter just north of Syracuse.  Lake effect snow from October to May. 

[Deleted]

Nov 26, 2019 10:36:39 GMT -5 swamp said:

Nov 26, 2019 10:35:47 GMT -5 @missrigby said:

Not confusing at all. There are so many worse places.

swamp , an acquaintance from my hometown now lives just north of Syracuse and can't wait to move back home because she misses the winters.

they get plenty of winter just north of Syracuse.  Lake effect snow from October to May. 

I thought so, too, but she'd rather be getting Lake Superior lake effect sNOw. There's a difference? Sounds like a horse apiece to me.

[spartyparty]

Michigan winters suck donkey balls.  It's not just the snow from the lakes, it's the cloud cover they produce.  Way too many cloudy overcast days...


fox17online.com/2017/12/27/how-the-great-lakes-produce-this-extensive-cloud-cover/

[shanendoah]

Nov 26, 2019 10:35:47 GMT -5 @missrigby said:

Nov 26, 2019 10:31:39 GMT -5 shanendoah said:

I am confused by the fact that this list has many places in ND, and Casper, WY, but doesn't seem to think MT exists...

Not confusing at all. There are so many worse places.

swamp , an acquaintance from my hometown now lives just north of Syracuse and can't wait to move back home because she misses the winters.

I live in Seattle now. I grew up in eastern MT. I will take Seattle winters, dark skies and all, over MT winters every year. (In fact, I do, because I could easily move back to MT, and winters are exactly why I choose not to.)
But mostly my thought is that eastern MT winters are pretty much exactly like the ND and WY winters.

And in 2018, my hometown had a February where the average temperature was 5.3F. There were sub-zero temperatures 19 times. However, the airport (where the measurements are taken) has no weather observer, so maybe that's why it didn't make the list... 

[thyme4change]

Flagstaff, AZ? I have spent a lot of time up there - never once did I think it would make the top 10 harshest places to live. They have had a few years of a lot of snow, but it isn't that sub-zero brutality of the mid-west (and north east, and Alaska, I presume, but I have experienced the mid-west for myself.) Plus, in general it warms up during the day. I would take an entire winter in Flagstaff over 1 week in a blizzard in Chicago.

Also the summers are outrageously beautiful.

[GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl]

Boston made it.  I lived in Chicago for 8 years.  ODS spent time in both Bismarck and Williston, North Dakota.  Yet, meh.  I do like having 4 seasons.  It makes Spring all that more glorious. 

Just an aside, Baltimore made the list, and rightfully so.  The Baltimore area does NOT know how to handle snow and Mid-Atlantic drivers still haven't learned how to drive in it or to just stay home.  Because ODS has life-long experience, LOL, he has a well-paying job shoveling and plowing for his college whenever necessary, which has been often the past few years --he's had more snow days in college than my local school district.  And they still charge full tuition!!  

[NastyWoman]

Just so I don't get left behind: it was a brutal 46 degrees here this morning. I had to turn up the heat in my car and my hands were cold when I got to work, yet my town is nowhere on the list. Where is the justice in that?

[alabamagal]

I don’t have to check if my hometown is on the list (Miami).

[Tennesseer]

Nov 26, 2019 11:49:59 GMT -5 NastyWoman said:

Just so I don't get left behind: it was a brutal 46 degrees here this morning. I had to turn up the heat in my car and my hands were cold when I got to work, yet my town is nowhere on the list. Where is the justice in that?

We have a chance of tornadoes this evening and this coming Saturday.

[NastyWoman]

Nov 26, 2019 11:55:44 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

Nov 26, 2019 11:49:59 GMT -5 NastyWoman said:

Just so I don't get left behind: it was a brutal 46 degrees here this morning. I had to turn up the heat in my car and my hands were cold when I got to work, yet my town is nowhere on the list. Where is the justice in that?

We have a chance of tornadoes this evening and this coming Saturday.

HAAA! We'll have heavy rain with winds before I go home! They expect the first "soaker" storm since May. So there!!!

All joking aside → stay safe with those tornadoes...

[gambler]

Here is a dubious-honor to be proud of. The closest city to me is in the top yes the top 50 most sin full cities in the us. Think it might have something to do with me being here

[Deleted]

Nov 26, 2019 17:30:16 GMT -5 gambler said:

Here is a dubious-honor to be proud of. The closest city to me is in the top yes the top 50 most sin full cities in the us. Think it might have something to do with me being here

There are two little towns where I come from, one on one side of the state line and one on the other. The one on the Wisconsin side was known as Sin City of the North. There are books about it. One of them is "Hurley, Hayward and Hell."

[Artemis Windsong]

My home state had 4 cities on the list.  Then I quit reading. 

[weltschmerz]

Nov 26, 2019 11:49:59 GMT -5 NastyWoman said:

Just so I don't get left behind: it was a brutal 46 degrees here this morning. I had to turn up the heat in my car and my hands were cold when I got to work, yet my town is nowhere on the list. Where is the justice in that?

46 degrees?  That's balmy. I'd be running around in shorts!

[NastyWoman]

Nov 27, 2019 1:39:56 GMT -5 weltschmerz said:

Nov 26, 2019 11:49:59 GMT -5 NastyWoman said:

Just so I don't get left behind: it was a brutal 46 degrees here this morning. I had to turn up the heat in my car and my hands were cold when I got to work, yet my town is nowhere on the list. Where is the justice in that?

46 degrees?  That's balmy. I'd be running around in shorts!

Whatutalkinbout? THAT IS BRUTALLY COLD WOMAN!!! 

[thyme4change]

Nov 27, 2019 1:39:56 GMT -5 weltschmerz said:

Nov 26, 2019 11:49:59 GMT -5 NastyWoman said:

Just so I don't get left behind: it was a brutal 46 degrees here this morning. I had to turn up the heat in my car and my hands were cold when I got to work, yet my town is nowhere on the list. Where is the justice in that?

46 degrees?  That's balmy. I'd be running around in shorts!

Lol. It is going to be in the low 50's and possibly wet this weekend, and I may bring my ski jacket. In my (lame ass) defense. It will be windy, we will be sitting watching soccer, my jacket's lining zips out, and I don't have anything else that is waterproof. The hilarity of growing up in Phoenix. I've owned like 2 rain jackets in my whole life. One of them was free. 😀

[Deleted]

thyme4change, imagine my surprise when we moved to the Southeast from the desert. I had to buy...wait for it...an umbrella! It was months before I was comfortable driving in the rain. Out West when there was a (rare) downpour, people just pulled over to the side of the road and waited it out.

It's going to be 70ish here today, sunny this afternoon.

Meanwhile, my brother is ticked because it's a blizzard day in the UP, and nephew is insistent that he go along to help him choose and buy a new 4x4 truck today. 

[thyme4change]

Nov 27, 2019 8:26:55 GMT -5 @missrigby said:

thyme4change, imagine my surprise when we moved to the Southeast from the desert. I had to buy...wait for it...an umbrella! It was months before I was comfortable driving in the rain. Out West when there was a (rare) downpour, people just pulled over to the side of the road and waited it out.

It's going to be 70ish here today, sunny this afternoon.

Meanwhile, my brother is ticked because it's a blizzard day in the UP, and nephew is insistent that he go along to help him choose and buy a new 4x4 truck today. 

I actually own a bunch of umbrellas. Half our rainfall comes in summer (mostly August), so any kind of jacket is so painful. And a lot of times it gets warm when it rains during the rest of the year. So an umbrella is perfect if you want to walk in the rain.

Granted, that is when it is dying down. Desert storms are violent, and relatively short. So being outside is neither advisable or necessary. Hence why you just pull over and wait for it to pass if you are driving.

[Lizard Queen]

Nov 27, 2019 8:18:08 GMT -5 thyme4change said:

Nov 27, 2019 1:39:56 GMT -5 weltschmerz said:

46 degrees?  That's balmy. I'd be running around in shorts!

Lol. It is going to be in the low 50's and possibly wet this weekend, and I may bring my ski jacket. In my (lame ass) defense. It will be windy, we will be sitting watching soccer, my jacket's lining zips out, and I don't have anything else that is waterproof. The hilarity of growing up in Phoenix. I've owned like 2 rain jackets in my whole life. One of them was free. 😀

I don't blame you at all. It's 50 here today and windy/rainy, and I'm wearing my winter coat. I get cold, dammit! Lived my entire life here, but I dress like I'm from the South.

[thyme4change]

Nov 27, 2019 10:28:51 GMT -5 Lizard Queen said:

Nov 27, 2019 8:18:08 GMT -5 thyme4change said:

Lol. It is going to be in the low 50's and possibly wet this weekend, and I may bring my ski jacket. In my (lame ass) defense. It will be windy, we will be sitting watching soccer, my jacket's lining zips out, and I don't have anything else that is waterproof. The hilarity of growing up in Phoenix. I've owned like 2 rain jackets in my whole life. One of them was free. 😀

I don't blame you at all. It's 50 here today and windy/rainy, and I'm wearing my winter coat. I get cold, dammit! Lived my entire life here, but I dress like I'm from the South.

I met a guy from Minnesota who told me his father wore long underwear all day every day. I said maybe he should move to Phoenix.

[tskeeter]

I’ve lived in five of these cities.  Minneapolis, MN, St Cloud, MN, Duluth, MN, Grand Forks, ND, and Buffalo, NY.  And I’ve spent time in three others in the winter.  Ironwood, MI, Fargo, ND, and Milwaukee, WI.

My vote for the most brutal winter weather is Grand Forks.  Although, other ND cities I am not as familiar with may be just as challenging.

I don’t know how these ranking were done, but they look off to me.  Lots of snow, like Buffalo is inconvenient, but snow alone is unlikely to kill you.  In the nation’s icebox, cold weather kills several people every year.  (If you live in that part of the country, you’re probably praying for more climate change.)  I have a hard time agreeing that Casper is the worst with a wind chill of only -40, While Minneapolis is reported to have an ambient temp of nearly -40 and a wind chill of nearly -70.  No low temp is reported for Grand Forks, but I remember ambient temps in the -25 to -30 range and high enough winds to more than match Casper’s wind chill.  But, in Grand Forks, that ungodly cold weather went on for weeks and weeks.  I remember that thinking a 35 degree spring day was warm enough to go shirtless and enjoy some sunshine.