How bad are they really? Is it really, really, cold and grey or maybe just cold? Is it just general despondence all around or does the sun shine bright? Thanks!
It varies. Some years/months/days are worse than others. Sometimes it is cold and cloudy, sometimes it is cold and clear. Same as anywhere else, really, except that the cold is pretty much a given.
I can remember one deer season that was ruined by over 60 inches of non-stop snow during a one week period. Not to mention the sub-arctic temperatures experienced up there. I was in the Rice Lake area, also I like to visit Chippewa Falls, Bloomer, and the other surrounding areas.
It really depends on what part of Wisconsin you’re living in. I grew up in Central Wisconsin, Marshfield and the Winters tended to be cold and snowy. I went to school in Madison and the winters were milder, often just as cold but with less snow. Sheboygan, where I lived for a year, had amazing amounts of snow because of Lake Michigan. Same for Milwaukee. And up north? Expect a lot more snow and a lot more cold.
If this year is like last year (I’m between Madison and Milwaukee, now) I expect 2 or 3 good sized snow storms with a foot of wet snow, and at least one cold snap (temps between 0 and -20 F) that will last for a week in January or February. Sunlight varies, but I have a SAD flourescent if the gloom starts making me crazy.
So far it’s been unseasonably mild. This is the first cold week and I’d guess it’s still mid 30’s.
The sunshiny days tend to be the coldest, though the cloudy days are the most depressing. And there’s usually plenty of snow. (None yet though, yay)
Sometimes the winters are so bad they make you wish for the 95 degree/100% humidity summer days.
But we just fill up on beer, brats and cheese until we’re insulated enough to cope with the cold.
Your cheesehead-in-a-jar,
Myron
It hasn’t been near cold yet! I haven’t even started wearing a jacket. Very disappointing Wisconsin winter thus far. I yearn for the Novembers of yester-year, when you couldn’t even go near your front door without thermal pants and a coat. I think the lowest temperature we hit last year(in the Milwaukee area) was -40 without wind chill, close to -60 with. That, in all honesty, is normal. And I love it.
I’m thinking about Madison…the University of Wisconsin sends me a lot of informational info. so I’m applying to the law school there (hey, they knocked off the app fee…so it’s a free app…who says no to that?)
Oh, they’re great. Nice and warm. I grew up in the UP of Michigan, and we used to always go to Green Bay for vacations in the winter because Green Bay had such nice, warm weather! It’s very mild, not much snow.
<hehehee, everything changes according to perspective, eh?>
It’s not so bad. The lowest temperature I ever experienced here was 44 below zero Fahrenheit (almost the same in Celsius!). The wind was a real drag, tho. But mostly it’s pretty mild, with annoying thaws between the snows, so everything gets slushy, then dirty, then refreezes.
And I live right on Lake Michigan. We do not get that much lake effect snow, maybe a foot or less most winters. The Michigan shore gets the most lake effect snow due to prevailing winds out of the west.
and Enore, it’s never gotten to 40 below in either Madison or Milwaukee since they started keeping records!!
I was born, raised and educated in Madison and have lived in Milwaukee for the last 25 years, and I concur with Qadgop’s opinion. It seems like it was a lot colder when I was a kid, but then memories have a way of becoming exaggerated one way or another.
On campus at Madison, walking up Bascom Hill against a raging snowstorm is the worst I recall, but you’d run up against that anywhere (anywhere that has snowstorms that is).
As Wisconsin weather goes, Madison is a good choice. Some of the buildings are connected so you don’t need to spend all your time outside, and the city is an absolute blast to live in. One or two days on the Terrace at Memorial Union in Spring or Fall make the winters worthwhile.
Exactly.
At first I was going to tell you how horribly cold it gets, but when you mentioned you were considering UW-Madison, my advice changed completely. Madison is a great town.
But is is COLD. I spent 30 years in WI, then moved to the Pacific Northwest. Early one Sunday morning in January, I went out to get the paper, realized it was 50 degrees, and almost started to cry - it was so nice. Then, I had to move to Massachusetts, and I feel like crying again.
Humans beings are not designed to live in subzero temperatures.
I agree. This summer, I was exiled to the Twin Cities. I was on the U of M campus (it isn’t nearly as pretty. Even though they have a good law school, too, and just reclaimed the Paul Bunyan Axe, don’t go there) and I missed the Terrace most of all. The Minnesota student union is under construction, and they don’t have the Terrace, anyway. And Wisconsin’s Union sells beer!
But if you factor in the wind chill, 40 below is not that unusual. Not a yearly event, but not unusual.
I moved to Madison 8 years ago from Washington, DC. The first winter was the coldest experience of my life. Driving the streets was like driving down snow canyons. It was a recordbreaking year for snowfall. The coldest it’s been so far is minus 50 F.
But usually it’s not so bad. Just bring warm clothes.
The other three seasons are GREAT.
Big political controversy kast year: imposing a 55mph speed limit on NIGHTTIME snowmobiling.
Typical springtime hobby: counting the idiots who drown going over too-thin lake ice. Some of them drown on snowmobiles.
Ya can’t go wrong with Mad-town. It’s got the clean, it’s got the seedy, it’s got the crazy undergrads, the serious grads, the international flavor, it’s the state capital, it’s got two lakes, State St, the funky East Side, an isthmus, the memory of the 60s alive and ticking, underground music scene or whatever the kids call it now, lots of blues, some jazz venues, the best beer anywhere at great prices, a fine leftyish law school, PLUS Yojimboguy lives there!
I’ll back up what most everyone else has said: Madison is fantastic. Cold? You bet. But there is no feeling as great as stepping out on that first sunny spring day when the temp hits 40 or 50.
I could spend a whole summer sitting on the Union Terrace and not miss the rest of the world one bit.
I did my undergrad there and left town for law school because I wanted to experience a different kind of school (small and private). There are times I really regret it. I don’t think there’s any place quite like it.
But yeah, it gets cold.
Why is UW waiving your application fee? Winter is very cold here, and we don’t need more lawyers. Find a better career.
HOW COLD IS IT?
An annotated thermometer in degrees F
60 - Californians put on sweaters
(if they can find one in their wardrobe)
50 - Miami residents turn on the heat
40 - You can see your breath
Californians shiver uncontrollably
Minnesotans go swimming
35 - Italian cars don't start
32 - Water freezes
30 - You plan your vacation to Australia
Minnesotans put on T-shirts
Politicians begin to worry about the homeless
British cars don't start
25 - Boston water freezes
Californians weep pitiably
Minnesotans eat ice cream
Canadians go swimming
20 - You can hear your breath
Politicians begin to talk about the homeless
New York City water freezes
Miami residents plan vacation further South
15 - French cars don't start
You plan a vacation in Mexico
Cat insists on sleeping in your bed with you
10 - Too cold to ski
You need jumper cables to get the car going
5 - You plan your vacation in Houston
American cars don't start
0 - Alaskans put on T-shirts
Too cold to skate
-10 - German cars don't start
Eyes freeze shut when you blink
-15 - You can cut your breath and use it to build an igloo
Arkansans stick tongue on metal objects
Miami residents cease to exist
-20 - Cat insists on sleeping in your pajamas with you
Politicians actually do something about the homeless
Minnesotans shovel snow off roof
Japanese cars don't start
-25 - Too cold to think
You need jumper cables to get the driver going
-30 - You plan a two week hot bath
The Mighty Monongahela freezes
Swedish cars don't start
-40 - Californians disappear
Minnesotans button top button
Canadians put on sweaters
Your car helps you plan your trip South
-50 - Congressional hot air freeze
Alaskans close the bathroom window
-80 - Hell freezes over
Polar bears move south
Wisconsin residents put on their shirts.It’s just too bad that they have to squeeze three seasons into six months.
I wouldn’t trade my time in Madison for anything. UW grad, had my wedding reception in the great hall of the Memorial Union, spent way too much time on the Terrace. Ah, I take that back, you can’t spend too much time on the Terrace.
I would recommend it highly to any student. Buy the warm clothes and do it. Just don’t leave your hat and gloves in class the first time you wear them, as I did every year I was there.
For an adult, I would think longer before moving there. Besides the cold, driving in the winter is a pain in the ass. Streets can have perma-ice that sucks to drive on and is hard on the car. Having to wear good shoes to work and walking through the snow and slush is no good. It is often overcast for weeks at a time in the early part of winter. A fresh coating of snow is beautiful, but after a few days it turns icy and black from car exhaust, and stays that way until the next snowfall. Although the city is culturally abundant, it is pretty homogenous. The ethnic diversity runs all the way from Swedes to Danes to Norwegians. That can be difficult for non-whites to assimilate into. Finally, as evidenced by the school board/ Pledge/ National Anthem thing, the city is dominated by a culture of progressive-at-all-costs, damn the consequences. Aging hippies are cool and all, but sometimes you wish they would build a school or a road insted of debating foreign policy in city hall. But I should speak, I moved from there to Boulder, CO. I suppose I am destined to end up in Berkeley.