Buffalo (WNY) vs. "Fair Weather" Areas

[Heavy Kevi]

You always hear about how terrible it is in Buffalo (or WNY) with all the snow and cold. We are treated like an leper tundra community by players/fans/media from the so-called "nicer" parts of the country, most commonly the south and west coasts (usual suspects being Florida and California)

 

You would never expect it would be 80's and brutal 90's for most of our summer, but that's beside my point.

 

What is better, cold and snowy for 4 to 5 months a year, or "fair weather" most of the time with natural disasters and dangerous creatures?

 

I contend WNY is better. I am partial because I LOVE the winter. But besides that, the northeast woodlands are generally insulated from destructive forces. No hurricanes, monsoons, tornados, earthquakes, wildfires, poison snakes and spiders, and our apex predator (bears) are the easiest to deal with in an encounter (compared to other apex predators).

 

I also like that I could build a house, and feel reasonably certain it will still be standing when I'm dead.

 

I imagine most will agree with me since this is a Buffalo-based forum, but am curious to what you guys think.

 

What say you?

[BillsPride12]

1 minute ago, Shotgunner said:

You always hear about how terrible it is in Buffalo (or WNY) with all the snow and cold. We are treated like an leper tundra community by players/fans/media from the so-called "nicer" parts of the country, most commonly the south and west coasts (usual suspects being Florida and California)

 

You would never expect it would be 80's and brutal 90's for most of our summer, but that's beside my point.

 

What is better, cold and snowy for 4 to 5 months a year, or "fair weather" most of the time with natural disasters and dangerous creatures?

 

I contend WNY is better. I am partial because I LOVE the winter. But besides that, the northeast woodlands are generally insulated from destructive forces. No hurricanes, monsoons, tornados, earthquakes, wildfires, poison snakes and spiders, and our apex predator (bears) are the easiest to deal with in an encounter (compared to other apex predators).

 

I also like that I could build a house, and feel reasonably certain it will still be standing when I'm dead.

 

I imagine most will agree with me since this is a Buffalo-based forum, but am curious to what you guys think.

 

What say you?

I feel like you are going to be surprised by the replies.  Most guys on the message boards(especially the ones that post in the Off the Wall section) no longer live in the WNY area and they usually don't have any problem admitting they have no desire to move back lol.  

[ExiledInIllinois]

"The coldest winter I ever spent was summer in San Francisco."

[Augie]

As much as I loved growing up in Buffalo, and as much as I love going back, I prefer one week of winter, max. I call it a “ski trip”, even if I don’t ski. I love the snow! But I like to play tennis and walk my dog, and I like to do it pretty much every day. As I tell my wife, it’s either tennis weather or it’s not. If it’s 50 degrees, it might as well be 5. 

 

I’ve lived in the Southeast for the last 35 years, and even Atlanta (which I don’t love) has too much winter for me. 

 

I remember sitting in my basement on a dark late afternoon trying to thaw out by the fire and watching the Bills play in Miami where the sun was still shining. Seeing those Dolphins fans in tee shirts and flip flops soaking up the sunshine hurt me to my core. I don’t want to live near Miami, but I do like the warm climate, especially as I get older. 

 

 

.

Edited July 30, 2018 by Augie

[ExiledInIllinois]

Gonna say BFLo... Just as sucky here but only average 35" of snow.  I'd take the feet over ice and rain.  Also summers are brutally hot (not this year) & winters colder (not this year)... So BFLo it is with its "tempered" (temperatures only, NOT snow) micro-climate...

Edited July 29, 2018 by ExiledInIllinois

[row_33]

7 minutes ago, ExiledInIllinois said:

"The coldest winter I ever spent was summer in San Francisco."

 

Yup, the old stadium in Cleveland was very cold in the summer as well.

 

 

[Heavy Kevi]

55 minutes ago, BillsPride12 said:

I feel like you are going to be surprised by the replies.  Most guys on the message boards(especially the ones that post in the Off the Wall section) no longer live in the WNY area and they usually don't have any problem admitting they have no desire to move back lol.  

 

Perhaps, that's why I made it a poll!

 

41 minutes ago, Augie said:

As much as I loved growing up in Buffalo, and as much as I love going back, I prefer one week of winter, max. I call it a “ski trip”, even if I don’t ski. I love the snow! But I like to play tennis and walk my dog, and I like to do it pretty much every day. As I tell my wife, it’s either tennis weather or it’s not. If it’s 50 degrees, it might as well be 5. 

 

I’ve lived in the Southeast for the last 35 years, and even Atlanta (which I don’t love) has too much winter for me. 

 

I remember sitting in my basement on a dark late afternoon trying to thaw out by the fire and watching the Bills play in Miami where the sun was still shine. Seeing those Dolphins fans in tees shirts and flip flops soaking up the sunshine hurt me to my core. I don’t want to live near Miami, but I do like the warm climate, especially as I get older. 

 

Well it's obvious where we differ. 50 degrees is pretty much my favorite temperature. But I'm just 30, and hoping as I age I will be able to handle the Buffalo summers... Lol

 

No chance I could ever acclimate to a hot climate.

[ExiledInIllinois]

9 minutes ago, Shotgunner said:

 

Perhaps, that's why I made it a poll!

 

 

Well it's obvious where we differ. 50 degrees is pretty much my favorite temperature. But I'm just 30, and hoping as I age I will be able to handle the Buffalo summers... Lol

 

No chance I could ever acclimate to a hot climate.

I like somewhere in 40-65° range to.  Say 40 @ night and 65 during day.

 

Hot weather is for lazy people and "science"... In my best Thomas Dolby: "Science!" backs it up...

 

https://www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/its-not-just-you-science-says-hot-weather-really-does-make-you-lazy.html

 

Probably why the lower the latitude, the more the shiesthole overall atittude.  Would You leave Your deadbeat neighbor in the cold... But let then sleep on the beach in Florida or Cali... I got no prob with that.

[Buffalo716]

We do have the hottest summers in the northeast in Buffalo but out winters are also 6ish months lol

 

i love our climate 

[Fadingpain]

I lived in WNY for 29 years, then moved out nearly 20 years ago.

 

Having lived in much warmer climates and now in south Florida, I can tell you I would be physically incapable of dealing with a Buffalo winter again.  It's 6 months (more or less) of crap, gray sky, cold, snow, ice, and waiting for life to return again.

That is way, way too much "waiting to live" as our life spans just aren't very long.

 

Honestly, the more I am away from a WNY climate, the more I wonder how people are capable of dealing with it.

 

 

[Buffalo_Gal]

WNY and it isn't even close. I hate leaving town from May - October because I have yet to find better weather during that period. And, I love the four seasons!

We had a condo in Florida (St Augustine area). We were fortunate enough to be on the ocean. The temp was 10° cooler (+ a  breeze) than over the bridge in town and starting in March that mattered.  We got the heck out and came home no later than the second week in April. 90s and humid is just gross. We will not be moving to Florida anytime in our lives.

My MIL lives in Vegas. I once asked a friend of hers when they had good weather. Her reply? "Two weeks. In October." It was freaking cold in December and January every time we went (those winds coming off the mountains were great for clearing the crud out of Vegas but horrible against the 35°  winter day).  The only decent weather we ever experienced there was during Thanksgiving. Summer? Ha! 115 ° in the shade is oven-hot. And with the sand pinging off your face... horrible.

We had a second residence in Utah. Wanna know what the Utah license plate said?  Greatest Snow on Earth (I do love the Utah Rockie Mountains)... WNY should do more to advertise all the winter activities available in the area. Many, many people live for winter sports (skiing, skating, ice hockey, etc) and hate overly hot weather.

I could pick apart nearly any area outside of WNY in the summer - staying at my great-grandmothers in Ohio was fine as a kid, not so great when I reached my 20s... hot and icky! I remember returning from a month at grandmother's in Boston (I went there for a month every summer in high school) and sitting on a stoop next to my best friend and her asking me "Why aren't you sweating!?" Well, when you just left 90+s and humid, 80 and not-as-humid is awesome. I've done a lot of traveling in the United States (49/50 states), and never found better summer weather anywhere.
 

Edited July 29, 2018 by Buffalo_Gal

[ExiledInIllinois]

1 hour ago, Buffalo716 said:

We do have the hottest summers in the northeast in Buffalo but out winters are also 6ish months lol

 

i love our climate 

Hottest summer?  Huh?

 

BFLo cooler summers (drier?), warmer/wetter (snow) winters.

 

Here (Illiana area) it is hot summers (wetter), cold drier/cold winters.

[Buffalo716]

5 minutes ago, ExiledInIllinois said:

Hottest summer?  Huh?

 

BFLo cooler summers (drier?), warmer/wetter (snow) winters.

 

Here (Illiana area) it is hot summers (wetter), cold drier/cold winters.

 

Well Illinois isn’t the north east .

 

but I remember I read last year that Buffalo has the highest average temperature of any North east City 

 

maybe it’s BS

[Augie]

2 hours ago, Shotgunner said:

 

Well it's obvious where we differ. 50 degrees is pretty much my favorite temperature. But I'm just 30, and hoping as I age I will be able to handle the Buffalo summers... Lol

 

No chance I could ever acclimate to a hot climate.

 

That’s why we are all different! If I didn’t need my tennis fix (it’s the only form of exercise I can trick myself into), I wouldn't be so adamant about it.  

 

I actually love the 50’s and 60’s, because that says football weather to me. Unfortunately, my brain equates being sweaty and being cold at the same time to shoveling snow, taking all the fun out of tennis in cooler weather. 

 

Ironically, if we lived farther north, that aspect would be better for me as there are more indoor courts to take advantage of. Here, they just don’t make as much sense financially so you pay thru the nose all year to belong to a rare place that has covered courts in winter. I get fat when I don’t play, and cutting back on food and wine is extremely unappealing! 

[Gray Beard]

My problem with upstate NY is commuting in the winter.  My job and my wife’s job are 50 miles apart. She has a very short commute. The long commute in the winter is causing me to retire a year or two sooner than I would otherwise. I think once I retire my negative outlook on winter will be tempered significantly. 

[ExiledInIllinois]

22 minutes ago, Buffalo716 said:

 

Well Illinois isn’t the north east .

 

but I remember I read last year that Buffalo has the highest average temperature of any North east City 

 

maybe it’s BS

I don't really consider BFLo NorthEast... Its 500 miles from Chicago... In the mid-400s away from Boston & New York... But it has to be placed in a region, guess it's NorthEast!

[Augie]

1 hour ago, Buffalo_Gal said:

WNY and it isn't even close. I hate leaving town from May - October because I have yet to find better weather during that period. And, I love the four seasons!

We had a condo in Florida (St Augustine area). We were fortunate enough to be on the ocean. The temp was 10° cooler (+ a  breeze) than over the bridge in town and starting in March that mattered.  We got the heck out and came home no later than the second week in April. 90s and humid is just gross. We will not be moving to Florida anytime in our lives.

My MIL lives in Vegas. I once asked a friend of hers when they had good weather. Her reply? "Two weeks. In October." It was freaking cold in December and January every time we went (those winds coming off the mountains were great for clearing the crud out of Vegas but horrible against the 35°  winter day).  The only decent weather we ever experienced there was during Thanksgiving. Summer? Ha! 115 ° in the shade is oven-hot. And with the sand pinging off your face... horrible.

We had a second residence in Utah. Wanna know what the Utah license plate said?  Greatest Snow on Earth (I do love the Utah Rockie Mountains)... WNY should do more to advertise all the winter activities available in the area. Many, many people live for winter sports (skiing, skating, ice hockey, etc) and hate overly hot weather.

I could pick apart nearly any area outside of WNY in the summer - staying at my great-grandmothers in Ohio was fine as a kid, not so great when I reached my 20s... hot and icky! I remember returning from a month at grandmother's in Boston (I went there for a month every summer in high school) and sitting on a stoop next to my best friend and her asking me "Why aren't you sweating!?" Well, when you just left 90+s and humid, 80 and not-as-humid is awesome. I've done a lot of traveling in the United States (49/50 states), and never found better summer weather anywhere.
 

 

I can’t argue with the summers! I’ve even thought of getting a summer place up there. We go to Highlands, NC next week to beat the heat for a while. That decision was made when we got cooked at Sea Island, GA a couple weeks ago....my wife HATES heat. (She had to be there for work.)  I’m sure you can see there is a dilemma with our climate preferences, and I’m sure you know who will prevail in the long run....   ?

[Buffalo716]

3 minutes ago, ExiledInIllinois said:

I don't really consider BFLo NorthEast... Its 500 miles from Chicago... In the mid-400s away from Boston & New York... But it has to be placed in a region, guess it's NorthEast!

 

New York as a state is definitely a north eastern state.

 

you can regionalize Buffalo I guess to Great Lakes region but New York is definitely a State in North Eastern US if you had to place it like you said lol

[Heavy Kevi]

34 minutes ago, Gray Beard said:

My problem with upstate NY is commuting in the winter.  My job and my wife’s job are 50 miles apart. She has a very short commute. The long commute in the winter is causing me to retire a year or two sooner than I would otherwise. I think once I retire my negative outlook on winter will be tempered significantly. 

 

That's what I hear often from winter-haters, that it's the commute (or just driving in snow in general) that they hate the most.

 

When I was a teenager I had cars and admittedly did not like it as much. Now I have had a 4x4 pickup ever since and as long as you have good tires, it makes driving in snow a non-issue. I actually love driving in it, since so many people just stay in their houses the roads are more vacant. 

[ExiledInIllinois]

3 minutes ago, Shotgunner said:

 

That's what I hear often from winter-haters, that it's the commute (or just driving in snow in general) that they hate the most.

 

When I was a teenager I had cars and admittedly did not like it as much. Now I have had a 4x4 pickup ever since and as long as you have good tires, it makes driving in snow a non-issue. I actually love driving in it, since so many people just stay in their houses the roads are more vacant. 

Rather have a foot of snow than this God Awful ice here... But thankfully NOT hilly and just flat... But 10" of snow becomes 30" wind driven in spots, 0" in others.

 

Then there are the people.  Gr8 if it was just 10 others and myself... ? Like Storms on steroids when you mix in the idiots.