I don’t think anyone takes too seriously the relatively minor differences between these schools’ microclimates, they’re all going to be cold, though minor differences do add up to make each school unique overall. It’s more amusement than anything, to parse out the differences in minute detail, and it is helpful to hear others’ experiences both pro and con. The links are great!
DS has been warned about snow getting old by March. His father grew up in frigid and snowy eastern WA and had his fill for a lifetime. DS has also spent the last three years in Seattle with little snow but instead a dark, cold, relentless rain that stretches each winter from Halloween to July 5th, as the locals tell it. He thinks snow would be better.
Can you believe this thread, lol?
Here we are, arguing about weather in micro terms. The mega is: cold is cold. We do chatter when it goes from 6 degrees to 18. We may burst forth when it goes over 32. But all these temps are mixed, Jan-Feb. One day frigid, the next may be better.
No one I know says, “New London is 14 average, wow, yeah, that’ll be warmer than Waterville, at 12.” Or even at 8.
But yes, wind and humidity do affect the sensation. Yes, radiant sunshine affects perception.
I love the post about how 40 is a warm day. It sure is! My first winter in the NE, I took the trash to the curb one day. It was 5 degrees. My nose hairs froze as soon as I breathed in. So I breathed through my mouth, and it made my teeth ache. I’m from So Cal. I got used to it, and now I kind of like that sort of cold.
D attended Bates, where they do the Puddle Jump in March. They cut a hole in the ice, and kids jump in. D finally did it in her last year. She then had to walk back to her dorm, still wet. I think she said it was about 24 degrees. Yikes!
@Lindagaf Learning about the puddle jump was a highlight of our Bates tour. Our tour guide was from SoCal and his eyes lit up as he described it. We toured In February, so we saw the frozen site. Truly one of my favorite quirky college traditions and one of the many things I loved about Bates.
To me there are 3 levels of cold. The first is just “cold”. The second is “do I need to worry about frostbite?” (maybe below 10 degrees). Third (the worst) is “it hurts to breathe” (around 20 below).
AFAIK 2 and especially 3 are really not that common in most of New England. I have only encountered #3 a few times in my life.
The “Jump in the freezing water” fundraiser seems to be a thing around here, and probably in lots of cold weather states.
You all forgot Tufts (which is a NESCAC school). While the temperatures/winters might be a bit colder in ME or VT–don’t forget in the winter of 2014-15 Boston got a record-setting total of 108 inches of snow.