Difference between Winters in the North and South

Yeah, I’ll second the four seasons preference. The problem in Wisconsin this year was a that there seemed to be a lack of “shoulder season”. It seemed to go from 40s and 50s directly to single digits and sub zero with no time to adjust. This probably isn’t unique to this state.

This time last month some friends did an over-nighter on the river which had very little, if any, ice at that time. On New Year’s Day our local club did our regular paddle (on a lake that serves as a cooling pond for a power plant so its always open) but it was too cold for me this time. (With age comes at least a smidgen of wisdom.) The hardiest among us went out in their dry suits and full winter regalia and lasted for about half an hour before retreating to a local bar for chili.
Then came a few balmy spring like days. This morning it was almost 50. Almost all the snow has melted. Kinda’ crazy for January. I went out to check the river. It was still frozen solid on Tuesday, water on top of the ice this (Thurs) morning but the channels still weren’t moving at all. About noon it started raining, which turned to sleet and now were back in the deep freeze. They didn’t spread salt this time because it would have washed off. Its dangerously slick out there now.

I believe those of us who go through this sort of thing for a few months develop a true appreciation of spring and especially of flowing waters. I’ve heard it said that hunger is the best sauce. Similarly, I think we four seasoners develop a bit deeper appreciation of liquid water after enduring a bit of stuff like this.

I favor the seasonal transitions also. Good thing, since in Pittsburgh we often get all 4 within one month! Last winter it got so warm in early February that I had bulbs blooming all over the yard – the flowers ended up crushed by heavy snows and ice storms shortly thereafter. But then the same thing often happens in late April or even mid May. Some winters we have no snow at all, other years we are paralyzed for weeks with drifts that bury cars and cover first floor windows.

I grew up outside metro Boston and recall distinct seasons there. When we moved here when I was in high school I was shocked by the unpredictability. Our first Christmas here it was 65 degrees out – I recall walking out in our back yard in my bare feet to fill the bird feeder. The following May we students were sent home from school early due to a heavy snow storm.

The lines of weather demarcation are drastic too (Rookie probably has the same thing – Michigan has distinct lateral bands of weather year round.) Adjacent counties and even neighborhoods can have completely different weather at any given time. We have a lot of long highway tunnels here – the area is corrugated with steep hills and deep river and stream cut valleys – it’s not unusual to enter a tunnel in bright clear sunlight and exit the other end less than a mile later in the midst of a swirling blizzard. I’ve even been driving down a highway here and entered a snowstorm on monsoon-like rain like it was a wall. Or been driving in sunshine on a high ridge looking down on an isolated storm dumping on the valley below. It’s an interesting place to live.

viva la difference

I’m afraid I need 4 seasons of water, and prefer it warm (Seattle worked, but water never got (FL) warm).

However, I’m a 1-dimensional type of person, only kayak.
When I lived in MN, I tried cross-country skiing, snow-shoeing, just plain hiking around (in my Steger mukluks), just didn’t do it for me. In the end, to keep myself from atrophying over the long winters I would alternate between a ConceptII rowing erg. and a Nordic Track ski machine.

I do miss following the Spring ice-out on the MN & WI rivers, travelling a little further north each weekend.

Growing up in South FL I knew it was winter when the Bald Cypress lived up to their name and lost their feathery leaves.

Living in SC we have very distinct seasons, but winter has infrequent snows with many winters never turning white here in the piedmont. However, a short 2 to 4 hour drive you can be in the NC mountains and snow if you want as it often snows at those elevations. Both the Smokies and Black Mountains have high ridges over 6000 feet. In fact the highest mountains in the Eastern USA are there. I spent 37 years backpacking those places and the AT for 5 to 6 day winter trips. Many years it would be in the snow.

However, even though my winter paddling rarely includes any ice here in SC the water gets cold enough to justify the expense of a good dry suit.

I love the fall and spring. Fall brings the leaf colors and relief from the heat and Spring blooms and green up relief from the cold drab greys and browns of winter.

A real plus to living in the piedmont region of SC is I am only 3 hours from the mountains and 3 hours from the coast. What a fabulous variety of paddling venues within easy driving distance, from white water to flat to lakes to swamps to marsh to Ocean. Allowing year round paddling. Oh Drat! I let the secret out!

@Andy_Szymczak said:
Any support here for the 4 seasons? I enjoy the changes, if it snows, I hope for a big blizzard! Nice to see the spring come alive, summer’s balmy days are welcome as well, And fall colors are extraordinary to behold.

Four seasons definitely. Although I could do without the blizzards, having gone through more than I can count. Annual average snowfall here is over 150". One winter it exceeded 200". That was a long hard winter.

Spring is my favorite season and summers are stellar. Autumn is beautiful but makes me a bit nostalgic because I know the ice man will be marching in. On the other hand, I paddle from April to December and during the four months I’m off the water I get things done around the house, chores I ignore during paddling season.

I would not be happy in the southern climes. Heat and humidity are not my friends. I once visited family in Maryland and Virginia in the summer. Swore I’d only return in their “winter.”

You four seasons people have to be “hit over the head” with seasonal change to tell the difference. Warm weather people can tell the different subtle changes that make up the seasons. B) Actually that’s great. Y’all come on down and bring your snow bird money.

Some of this is heat tolerance. I can’t stand heat - heck I even go somewhere with cold water in the summer to escape the heat around home, which is hardly epic stuff by southern standards. Even if I don’t love cold all the time, it can be solved with a layer of clothing or burning a little more fuel in the furnace. Once I am too hot - which for me is anywhere from 85 up - all I can do is get into water or hide someplace with AC. Not that the getting into the water part isn’t nice, but most parks and water access points shut down at sunset so you have to go home or pay to camp.

Today 51
Tomorrow -2
Wheee

@kayamedic said:
Today 51
Tomorrow -2
Wheee

WOW! Two seasons in two days…
In S. Florida we like to think of our four seasons being…
Football, baseball, hockey and round ball…

@kayamedic said:
Today 51
Tomorrow -2
Wheee

Yup. Went through that yesterday afternoon when it was 50F & pouring buckets of rain, then dropped 40-some degrees in a few hours and back to snow. The big flash freeze. Oddly, the roads were great today. Mine had been sanded and the highway was completely clear.

Summer here is sometimes defined as three months of bad sledding. But then, what can you expect from a state shaped like a mitten? :wink:

Where I used to live in upstate NY, we always said “Three months of spring, three months of fall, six months of winter, no summer at all.” I do miss the vibrant seasonal changes.

@kayamedic said:
Today 51
Tomorrow -2
Wheee

Actually, that’s what I find more of the problem.
‘Up there’ when it hangs around 0 degrees for a few weeks, when it get’s up to 30, it feels like spring.
‘Down here’ when it’s been in the 60s for a while, then goes down to the 30s, feels like the arctic.
(not to mention having to change whole sets of paddling gear each ‘transition’)

The difference is down south,

  1. Our water is soft.
  2. We just can’t talk that much about snow tires.

@Overstreet said:
The difference is down south,

  1. Our water is soft.
  2. We just can’t talk that much about snow tires.

But you can have terrific alligator in the yard and snake ID conversations

Soft water shortens your life

@kayamedic said:

@Overstreet said:
The difference is down south,

  1. Our water is soft.
  2. We just can’t talk that much about snow tires.

But you can have terrific alligator in the yard and snake ID conversations

And that is cool.

@PaddleDog52 said:
Soft water shortens your life

It can if you breath it.

Hard water just makes it seem like you live longer!

Definitely do not have the traditional four seasons here in North Texas. 61 degrees yesterday afternoon and 16 this morning. I think the seasons are Dang Hot, Fall, Confused, and Tornado.

@TreeA10 said:
Definitely do not have the traditional four seasons here in North Texas. 61 degrees yesterday afternoon and 16 this morning. I think the seasons are Dang Hot, Fall, Confused, and Tornado.

Is that the part of Texas that gets “Blue Northerns”?