Hot cities or cold cities; 4 seasons or no seasons; desert cities or green cities?

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by lio45

In FL it makes a huge difference. A friend of ours has a waterfront condo, it's always breezy, much more pleasant in summer than everything I have which is at least a couple blocks from the water (which suffices to make a significant difference in the breeze).

If you're "a few blocks from the lake", you're inland. There are condos in Chicago that are straight on the lakeshore. I'm pretty sure those balconies are pleasant in the summer.

That said, I was careful to not be 100% sure about this, given that it's been years since I've been in Chicago, and I was there for the architecture so I didn't bother with Lake Michigan; no idea how breezy it actually is.

But as I said, in the coastal cities I'm familiar with, the breeze from the water makes a nice difference in summer; I'm guessing Chicago is no exception.

Probably accurate. I went to the Rockaways in Queens a couple of days ago and the air temperature felt 10-15 degrees cooler than where I live in northwest Brooklyn. There was also a significant drop off in humidity.

[10023]

Originally Posted by LA21st

Florida is just hotter because of humidity/the ocean water is warmer.

I'll take the cooler water over warmer water.
If I lived in Florida, I'd be in the water a few times a month at best.
Meanwhile, you're dealing with humidity every second, so...
It's not a good trade off.

People I know in Miami are in the water a few times a month. The summer humidity does suck though. Winter is amazing.

[badrunner]

You're not going to get any significant cooling breezes out of Caribbean and Gulf waters. There's only about 5-10 degree difference between air temperature over water and air temperature over land. The difference is much more dramatic in NYC, Chicago and of course LA (air temp over the Pacific is currently 63 degrees).

https://www.ventusky.com/

[10023]

Originally Posted by badrunner

You're not going to get any significant cooling breezes out of Caribbean and Gulf waters. There's only about 5-10 degree difference between air temperature over water and air temperature over land. The difference is much more dramatic in NYC, Chicago and of course LA (air temp over the Pacific is currently 63 degrees).

https://www.ventusky.com/

This is incorrect.

It doesn’t matter if the water is cold or warm, a breeze is a breeze and it cools you down. There are “cooling breezes” in Barbados that make it comfortable to wear long trousers in the middle of the day, for god’s sake.

[badrunner]

Originally Posted by 10023

This is incorrect.

It doesn’t matter if the water is cold or warm, a breeze is a breeze and it cools you down. There are “cooling breezes” in Barbados that make it comfortable to wear long trousers in the middle of the day, for god’s sake.

There's always ocean breezes and the evaporative cooling effect over water, but the water temperature matters. You don't get AC-cold air or cooling fog in tropical waters.

[JManc]

I'm in Arizona and it's been 100+ but love it. No humidity.

[lio45]

Physics-wise, as long as the air is cooler than the human body, any strong wind will help cool you off. (As 10023 already pointed out.)

This phenomenon works in Florida summers too. I’ve experienced it firsthand (in addition to be able to predict it as a physicist).

[CaliNative]

Originally Posted by CaliNative

The Atlantic Ocean off Florida is much warmer than the Pacific off CA, so the breezes off the Atlantic must be fairly warm. They may help a bit by moving the air around like a fan, but there is nothing like the CA coast breezes (more frigid in a NorCal than SoCal) that bring the fog in to cool things off.

The "pump" that brings in the coastal breezes and fog is the heating up of inland areas. As the inland areas heat up on summer days, the hot air rises, the pressure goes down, and this draws in the cold higher pressure ocean fog and winds during the afternoon.

The stratus/fog layer tends to be higher in SoCal because it is a bit warmer than in NorCal, so the ground visibility is better. In NorCal, the fog is colder, so it often comes in right at ground level and sometimes reduces visibility to "pea soup" conditions. The late spring/early-mid summer temps along the coast in NorCal are often around 55-65F, in SoCal 65-70F with frequent overcast and drizzle from the stratus clouds, especially from May-early July in SoCal, and May-early August in NorCal.

In late August into late September (sometimes into October), both SoCal and NorCal coastal temps warm up, and the foggy weather is less common. Santa Ana and Diablo Winds can also dry and warm things up in Autumn in both SoCal and NorCal, and cause wildfires to spread.

I added a few facts and edited my original post on the last page. Here it is above if you care to read it.

[ChrisLA]

I used to live on the lakefront on Chicago’s north side, Sheridan Road to be exact. I lived there the whole summer of 1990. I have no doubt or arguments that it is slightly cooler than inland Chicago, but with the high humidity I can’t recall when there was never a cool enough breeze coming off the lake that made a big difference in my level of comfort inside my apartment. It was pretty miserable most of the summer, I so looked forward for autumn, this is when I felt Chicago was at its best, I loved autumn and the beautiful scenery around the city during that time.

[LA21st]

Originally Posted by 10023

People I know in Miami are in the water a few times a month. The summer humidity does suck though. Winter is amazing.

Yea, most people are a few times.
California too.

[LA21st]

Originally Posted by ChrisLA

I used to live on the lakefront on Chicago’s north side, Sheridan Road to be exact. I lived there the whole summer of 1990. I have no doubt or arguments that it is slightly cooler than inland Chicago, but with the high humidity I can’t recall when there was never a cool enough breeze coming off the lake that made a big difference in my level of comfort inside my apartment. It was pretty miserable most of the summer, I so looked forward for autumn, this is when I felt Chicago was at its best, I loved autumn and the beautiful scenery around the city during that time.

Same. I don't know what these people are talking about. It's never been some constant breeze to cool you down.

Chicago isn't as humid as the south but there are certainly rough stretches in the summer.

[LA21st]

Originally Posted by lio45

Physics-wise, as long as the air is cooler than the human body, any strong wind will help cool you off. (As 10023 already pointed out.)

This phenomenon works in Florida summers too. I’ve experienced it firsthand (in addition to be able to predict it as a physicist).

It can cool you off for a few seconds or something. It doesn't change much. Have you ever experienced California's dry weather?
It's very different from the east coast, breeze or not

[montréaliste]

Originally Posted by LA21st

It can cool you off for a few seconds or something. It doesn't change much. Have you ever experienced California's dry weather?
It's very different from the east coast, breeze or not

You’ve got to toughen yourself up.

There's not just the one climate out there in the real world. What happens when you step out of your Socal bubble?

A breeze. Ahhhhhhh! Yes, a breeze!

[10023]

Originally Posted by badrunner

There's always ocean breezes and the evaporative cooling effect over water, but the water temperature matters. You don't get AC-cold air or cooling fog in tropical waters.

No, and that’s a good thing. The cold water induced fog is why the weather in the western half of San Francisco sucks. But you still get a cool, comfortable breeze as long as there’s wind regardless of the temperature of the of the water.

[10023]

Originally Posted by LA21st

Yea, most people are a few times.
California too.

Sorry, I meant a few times a week.

I think people in Miami go to the beach much more often than people in LA. And then they’re on the water for other things (boats, jetskis etc) pretty regularly. The water is calmer and warmer, and more of the city is coastal, so it’s a much bigger part of life in Miami than LA.

Last time I was in LA was over a year ago, in early May, I saw the ocean once and put on a sweatshirt to walk out onto a pier. It’s no wonder LA people aren’t at the beach that often, especially if they don’t surf.

[Cory]

As someone that has lived on the West Coast for 12 years, I find it hard to believe that someone would claim to enjoy California’s water temps compared to Miami. When I lived in SF, I’ve only been in the ocean twice, and both times it felt Arctic compared to Miami. I’m sure SoCal is slightly warmer.

[edale]

Originally Posted by montréaliste

You’ve got to toughen yourself up.

There's not just the one climate out there in the real world. What happens when you step out of your Socal bubble?

A breeze. Ahhhhhhh! Yes, a breeze!

Right? And different people do like different things...

This idea that Southern California is the only place with good weather, and everywhere is just shit is annoying.

[pj3000]

Originally Posted by LA21st

Florida is just hotter because of humidity/the ocean water is warmer.

No, Florida is hotter than California primarily because of its more southern latitude.

Which results in the sun being higher on the horizon than it is in states (like California) that are further north. Higher sun position on horizon = higher angle of incidence of sun rays hitting Earth's surface = more intense rays = more heat.

Secondarily, Florida is hot because it is a peninsula surrounded by water.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by pj3000

No, Florida is hotter than California primarily because of its more southern latitude.

Which results in the sun being higher on the horizon than it is in states (like California) that are further north. Higher sun position on horizon = higher angle of incidence of sun rays hitting Earth's surface = more intense rays = more heat.

Secondarily, Florida is hot because it is a peninsula surrounded by water.

Also worth noting the difference between ocean currents. A warm current (the Gulf Stream) follows the Eastern Seaboard all the way to Cape Cod. In contrast on the West Coast currents heading from the North Pacific split around Victoria Island, warming areas to the north, but making coastal areas colder all the way south to Baja.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by pj3000

No, Florida is hotter than California primarily because of its more southern latitude.

Which results in the sun being higher on the horizon than it is in states (like California) that are further north. Higher sun position on horizon = higher angle of incidence of sun rays hitting Earth's surface = more intense rays = more heat.

Secondarily, Florida is hot because it is a peninsula surrounded by water.

Doesn't Florida also have areas that get colder than coastal California?