Honestly the Great Lakes coasts are hard to beat for summers. So many people I've met over the years who grew up elsewhere in the country have said they were amazed to discover how enjoyable areas like Michigan's west coast are June-September. (One of those is now my wife who grew up on Puget Sound, and loves that area, but says that if we lived there we'd be doing our summer vacations someplace along Lake Michigan.)
Pacific Northwest summers feel a little extra special to me. Hot dry days for all your summery activities, but what really clinches it for me is the way the temperature drops when the sun goes down. Summer feels wrong to me in places with muggy summers, where the moisture in the air holds the heat all night long. Cool summer evenings have that extra little romance to them—gathering around campfires, huddling for warmth because you mistakenly thought you wouldn’t need a jacket (again), opening up all the windows at night to let the cool air in and falling asleep the sound of the crickets outside. And then the cool overnight temperatures also grant you cool mornings, which are invaluable for hikes and biking and other non-aquatic outdoors time.
I love PNW summers, but I cannot accept them as normative. As a native Midwesterner, I think the most representative summer should swelter a little bit. There should be a little pain, such that a pool is not just joyful but blessed respite. Summers should not be too perfect; they should be a little much.
I’m thinking a little more inland Northwest—Portland, not Seattle. Plenty of 80, 90, even 100+ days. I 100% agree that a Pacific Coast summer is too nice to count 🙃
Spring out west - after a rainy winter - is unbeatable. Less muddy than the greener springs to the east, but still green, with that shock of color from the blooms.
Summer, I am partial to the midwestern/northeastern variety. Hot and humid beats very hot and also beats dry. Hot enough that you want to jump in the water, but not so many days that are hazardous to be outside?
I think Fall is perfect east of the Mississippi. Really, it's great near everywhere, although it hits a bit later or earlier in the year. Everywhere gets phenomenal color changes. But east of the mississippi, just the volume of deciduous trees everywhere can warm even the hardest of hearts.
And finally, for winter, I like the upper Midwest. Give me my snow, and my snow sports. I would say the Rockies but they can sometimes be dry - and xc skiing is a delight. I did once spend a couple of memorable winters in Alaska, but even down in Anchorage it can get so cold that being outside for too long is dangerous. While there are days like that in the upper midwest, they're not as frequent, and not as short. I want my winters to be winter!
But of course, the best weather on the planet, every day of the year, is in Hawai'i. Fall and winter may be more fall or winter every year. But the land of eternal green summer days that aren't so hot you sweat but not so dry you burn? Yes, they've got the perfect day every day.
Fall along the St. Croix and Mississippi rivers bordering Minnesota and Wisconsin is spectacular. Late summer in southern and eastern Wisconsin is why they call it God’s Country.
Growing up near the Cumberland Plato in South East TN, spending summers in Western NC, and now living in North GA, I am partial to Fall in the low laying Appalachian Mountains.
The crisp feeling in the air the last few days has me excited for bonfires, orange blazing through the trees, and the crackle of leaves underfoot.
Hard to decide about other seasons, but I'm interested to read what others think.
Honestly the Great Lakes coasts are hard to beat for summers. So many people I've met over the years who grew up elsewhere in the country have said they were amazed to discover how enjoyable areas like Michigan's west coast are June-September. (One of those is now my wife who grew up on Puget Sound, and loves that area, but says that if we lived there we'd be doing our summer vacations someplace along Lake Michigan.)
Pacific Northwest summers feel a little extra special to me. Hot dry days for all your summery activities, but what really clinches it for me is the way the temperature drops when the sun goes down. Summer feels wrong to me in places with muggy summers, where the moisture in the air holds the heat all night long. Cool summer evenings have that extra little romance to them—gathering around campfires, huddling for warmth because you mistakenly thought you wouldn’t need a jacket (again), opening up all the windows at night to let the cool air in and falling asleep the sound of the crickets outside. And then the cool overnight temperatures also grant you cool mornings, which are invaluable for hikes and biking and other non-aquatic outdoors time.
I love PNW summers, but I cannot accept them as normative. As a native Midwesterner, I think the most representative summer should swelter a little bit. There should be a little pain, such that a pool is not just joyful but blessed respite. Summers should not be too perfect; they should be a little much.
I’m thinking a little more inland Northwest—Portland, not Seattle. Plenty of 80, 90, even 100+ days. I 100% agree that a Pacific Coast summer is too nice to count 🙃
Spring out west - after a rainy winter - is unbeatable. Less muddy than the greener springs to the east, but still green, with that shock of color from the blooms.
Summer, I am partial to the midwestern/northeastern variety. Hot and humid beats very hot and also beats dry. Hot enough that you want to jump in the water, but not so many days that are hazardous to be outside?
I think Fall is perfect east of the Mississippi. Really, it's great near everywhere, although it hits a bit later or earlier in the year. Everywhere gets phenomenal color changes. But east of the mississippi, just the volume of deciduous trees everywhere can warm even the hardest of hearts.
And finally, for winter, I like the upper Midwest. Give me my snow, and my snow sports. I would say the Rockies but they can sometimes be dry - and xc skiing is a delight. I did once spend a couple of memorable winters in Alaska, but even down in Anchorage it can get so cold that being outside for too long is dangerous. While there are days like that in the upper midwest, they're not as frequent, and not as short. I want my winters to be winter!
But of course, the best weather on the planet, every day of the year, is in Hawai'i. Fall and winter may be more fall or winter every year. But the land of eternal green summer days that aren't so hot you sweat but not so dry you burn? Yes, they've got the perfect day every day.
Fall along the St. Croix and Mississippi rivers bordering Minnesota and Wisconsin is spectacular. Late summer in southern and eastern Wisconsin is why they call it God’s Country.
Growing up near the Cumberland Plato in South East TN, spending summers in Western NC, and now living in North GA, I am partial to Fall in the low laying Appalachian Mountains.
The crisp feeling in the air the last few days has me excited for bonfires, orange blazing through the trees, and the crackle of leaves underfoot.
Hard to decide about other seasons, but I'm interested to read what others think.