“Getting the Lake Effect - colder weather and more snow in the winter - might have some small effect though.” Not to be That Guy, but I can’t let this go.
- "Lake effect" refers to snow, not temperatures.
- Because it's on the western side of Lake Michigan, Evanston actually gets very little lake effect snow, . Places that consistently get lake effect snow from the Great Lakes are Traverse City, Buffalo, Syracuse, and so forth. If the prevailing weather patterns shift and lake effect snow does fall on Evanston, it's big news because (a) it's rare and (b) Chicago is a big city.
- Lake Michigan moderates temperatures. In the summer, Evanston is cooler than suburbs to the west because of Lake Michigan; in the winter, it's warmer. Anecdotally, I do think there are micro-climates where wind off the lake can make a particular spot seem colder, but that's not true of Evanston or Northwestern's campuses in general. I do think you'll feel a bit more of a wind chill standing on the Lakefill or outside the Rubloff Building on the Chicago campus than you would standing outside, say, Allison or Elder.