Difference between Winters in the North and South

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”?

@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.

That description is hilarious. Thanks for the laughter!

Out here in the PNW, we just had a spring preview this past weekend. It was all sunshine and in the 60’s. Yesterday was nice too and right now I’m watching the sun come up after an early morning shower. Hhmm, I might load up one of the kayaks and do some paddling today.