4 seasons climate of the midwest

[BowMeHunter]

_{Southeast Mi...Most def all 4 seasons.}

anything east of the western shore of LM is the great lakes not MW Go fight northern Indiana,Ohio and Toronto for king of the lakes

[BowMeHunter]

Anything inside the Rockford, Madison and Dubuque triangle is the epicenter of the textbook MW 4 seasons IMO.

Once you start getting over 100 miles miles south of rockford, i dont know what I'd call that climate in winter. same thing nw of dubuque and madison in winter.. that's probably entering southern fringes of the the nw part of the MW and we se midwesterners in chicago and MKE can't compete with them in winter severity most of the time. But we can kick their ass in total snowfall some yrs.

[nwohweather]

Toledo is very 4 seasonsy really...no real influence off the lakes and you get literally every season including the Indian Summer and the occasional 60 degree day in january

[wisconsinwx]

anything east of the western shore of LM is the great lakes not MW Go fight northern Indiana,Ohio and Toronto for king of the lakes

I know a lot comes down to perception, but I consider most of the Great Lakes region, including Michigan and Indiana the Midwest. The Great Lakes is one portion of the bigger Midwest region. Take TWC: they include most of the Great Lakes region when displaying Midwestern maps.

[wisconsinwx]

Anything inside the Rockford, Madison and Dubuque triangle is the epicenter of the textbook MW 4 seasons IMO.

Once you start getting over 100 miles miles south of rockford, i dont know what I'd call that climate in winter. same thing nw of dubuque and madison in winter.. that's probably entering southern fringes of the the nw part of the MW and we se midwesterners in chicago and MKE can't compete with them in winter severity most of the time. But we can kick their ass in total snowfall some yrs.

I agree with your calculation of the best area for four seasons weather. SW and SC Wisconsin see it all.

[cyclone77]

We definitely see it all here in northwest Illinois and eastern Iowa. In winter the coldest arctic air has a tendency to knife right through this area southwest of the lakes. Two years ago we hit -33 here, and -36 in Sterling/Rock Falls. In summertime we seem to always be centered in the area with the higher dewpoints. Luckily we seem to be in a dead zone for strong/violent tornadoes, but that's okay with me lol.

[Chicago Storm]

We definitely see it all here in northwest Illinois and eastern Iowa. In winter the coldest arctic air has a tendency to knife right through this area southwest of the lakes. Two years ago we hit -33 here, and -36 in Sterling/Rock Falls. In summertime we seem to always be centered in the area with the higher dewpoints. Luckily we seem to be in a dead zone for strong/violent tornadoes, but that's okay with me lol.

Matt Petkovic would disagree.

[wisconsinwx]

We definitely see it all here in northwest Illinois and eastern Iowa. In winter the coldest arctic air has a tendency to knife right through this area southwest of the lakes. Two years ago we hit -33 here, and -36 in Sterling/Rock Falls. In summertime we seem to always be centered in the area with the higher dewpoints. Luckily we seem to be in a dead zone for strong/violent tornadoes, but that's okay with me lol.

That would be assuming that the areas around you in all directions would see violent/strong tornadoes on a semi-regular basis, which I know is not the case to the north and east. You're right in the transition zone between tornado alley to your southwest and the Great Lakes to your northeast where we see tornadoes only occasionally, with most of our severe weather coming in the form of MCS' that produce high winds and hail.

[cyclone77]

Matt Petkovic would disagree.

Haha, yeah I bet he would.

[michsnowfreak]

Personally when I think of a textbook four season climate, I would think of Eastern Nebraska or Western Iowa. Particularly the Omaha area. Average high is 32 degrees during the winter and their average high in July gets close to 90 degrees.

Omaha is certainly a contender looking at the data, I could see nominating them the award for 4 extreme seasons with a lean towards summer, whereas SW MI would be 4 extreme seasons with a lean towards winter.

For a comparison....

avg.................OMAHA..........DETROIT........GRAND RAPIDS
snowfall.........30 inches......44 inches.........70 inches
1"+ snwcvr.......47 days........49 days...........72 days
meas snow........24 days........37 days...........55 days
32F or colder...134 days.......130 days..........143 days
90F+.............31 days........12 days...........10 days
100F+.............2 days.........0 days............0 days

[michsnowfreak]

Home Alone was set in Illinois. A Christmas Story was actually filmed in Canada, I believe.

Christmas Story was set in Indiana but filmed in Cleveland, OH. Funny story, it was filmed during the mild winter of 1982-83, and there was no snow on the ground in CLE during the filming, a rarity for sure, but they called in snow machines to make the snow. the machines ran all night and the neighbors were all cool with it. I have the Christmas Story dvd and this was in the extras section.

[michsnowfreak]

You lack the repeatability of good winters that far south though. Even a dud winter in the southern Lakes usually still brings a decent amount of snow. A dud in Joplin might have 5"?

True. Theres always 4 seasons here, in the worst case scenarios, such as in the mildest of winters here, its impossible to not get some cold, snowy days, while in the coldest of summers its impossible not to get some warm humid days. This year, we really are seeing the extremes. In what was the 5th snowiest/9th whitest winter on record at Detroit, the dead of winter saw double digit snowdepth for 2 weeks, while the dog days of summer will be featuring (most likely) 7 consecutive days of 90F+, worst heatwave since 1988.

[michsnowfreak]

The 3rd one was in Chicago.. I always remember the snowstorm that happened in the movie..

5:09

http://www.youtube.c...tailpage#t=308s

I'd go with Iowa. Smack dab in the middle of the country and usually gets some of the nastiest severe wx and the killer blizzards during the winter with the open land.

Iowa would be a great choice weather wise, but theres too much open land for the spectacular Fall foliage scenes you get in my pick of SW MI, thats why I didnt pick them. Again, not that there arent areas of IA that have great leaf peeping, but a lot of it is open.

[michsnowfreak]

Some good responses in this thread. And just a reminder, the midwest is notorious for its 4 seasons, so again no one is saying any area is without them, because they arent. I was just thinking in the textbook definition. By textbook I mean, something like some kid in southern California sees a picture that has 4 squares, showing the same outdoors scene, one from each season, asks his mom why the tree is red in the "fall' pic or why the grass is white in the "winter" pic. Who has the BEST balance. Yes, you can get a 6-inch snowfall in Nashville, yes it can hit the 90s in International Falls (see today)...Im talking balance. And it seems like our region sees the best balance of anywhere in the country. Although, it is still a very debatable question, as I discovered when someone pointed out Omaha, less snow but more heat than my pick.

I like how BowMeHunter and I seem to be on the same page for most things. Hate the heat, and would prefer a snowfall over a blizzard I remember a blizzard warning with an arctic front in Feb 2003. We had 2" old snowcover, a blizzard warning issued, had 1-2" new snowfall but thanks to 60 mph winds woke up the next day to grass showing everywhere with drifts lining fences and stuff. The blizzard made me see grass for the first time in weeks, I felt so ripped off. Give me a solid snowstorm with just enough wind to have a few drifts for good measure.

[dmc76]

Heres my top 5:

Major Cities only...if not, its hands down Houghton,MI

1. Grand Rapids, MI perfect 4 season spot in the MW

2. Cleveland, OH

3. Madison, WI

4. Milwaukee, WI

5. Detroit, MI

[wisconsinwx]

Heres my top 5:

Major Cities only...if not, its hands down Houghton,MI

1. Grand Rapids, MI perfect 4 season spot in the MW

2. Cleveland, OH

3. Madison, WI

4. Milwaukee, WI

5. Detroit, MI

That's a good list. While I like Milwaukee's variable weather, I would say Madison might have a slight advantage over the likes of Milwaukee, Cleveland, and Detroit. B/c the aforementioned ciites are near major lakes, they tend to see gloomier spring and even fall weather. I think being inland helps that aspect. Therefore, like Bow, I'd favor inland locations like Madison and Rockford slightly.