11 Colleges With Incredibly Bad Weather
January 13th, 2011
While some students enjoy classes in beautiful climates, others find themselves trekking to thelibrary in snowstorms, extreme heat, or rain. Although these schools offer a great education, their weather leaves something to be desired. Check out these 11 schools with the worst weather.- Loyola: Located in Baltimore, Maryland, Loyola weather has the worst of both worlds. Every few years, there’s a big snowstorm, and the grocery stores get mobbed. Loyola students pay their dues in the cold winters, but don’t get a break in the summer — there’s plenty of humidity, and temperatures up to 100 degrees. Baltimore is subject to tropical storms and hurricanes, as well as the rare tornado.
- UNLV: Sometimes, going to school in Vegas is awesome, but other times, not so much. When it rains, it really pours, and the winds can be extreme. And before you start thinking you’ll go to the desert of Vegas to escape snow, know that Vegas can still get slammed with record snowfalls.
- University of Miami: Normally, Miami is home to beautiful, sunny weather that its residents enjoy almost year round. But what lands the University of Miami on this list is the hurricanes. Miami is prone to deadly hurricanes that can really throw a wrench in your class schedule.
- University of North Dakota: Those who live in North Dakota should be braced for buckets and buckets of snow every winter. Snow storms from November are likely to stick around until the spring, and it’s not unusual to find temperatures below zero.
- UTEP: El Paso is in hot West Texas, right near the Mexican border. In the spring, you’ll have to brace yourself for a kind of storm you probably haven’t seen before — sand blows around quite a bit. The desert climate means it’s dry all year long, and triple digits are common in the summer, but there are also very cool winters.
- University of Washington: If you’re a fan of gray skies and rain year round, Seattle is for you. And don’t think that because you have to deal with constant dreariness, you’ll be excused from cold — it gets downright cold, and the wind coming off the ocean is bone chilling.
- University of Oregon: Like the University of Washington, Oregon has terribly dreary weather. It’s constantly cloudy, humid, and wet.
- Tulane: Tulane is a great school, but attending means that you’ll be living in New Orleans, where heat and humidity is a way of life. It’s one of the rainiest places in the US, and you can’t survive the summer without air conditioning. Oh, and let’s not forget the city is prone to hurricanes.
- Syracuse: Going to Syracuse means dealing with constantly unsettled weather. There’s lots of cloud cover and precipitation, and when it’s not gloomy from rain, it’s snowing. Syracuse typically receives well over 100 inches of snow each year.
- University of Chicago: When it’s nice in Chicago, it’s absolutely beautiful. But you never know what you’re going to get. It can be extremely cold, windy, and icy, and it’s a good idea to bring a jacket any time of year. Temperatures can change 40 degrees in a day, with extreme weather changes happening rapidly.
- University of Minneapolis: The Twin Cities are amazingly cold in the winter. In fact, temperatures are colder in the Twin Cities than in any other major US metropolitan area. On top of that, this area is subject to floods, droughts, tornadoes, and wind.
Yes, because the only universities that exist in the world must be in the U.S. Sorry, in the lower 48 states of the U.S.
ReplyDeleteAnd of course there is only one school in each of these cities.
This list makes no sense whatsoever. If the weather really is worst in Baltimore, wouldn't you list all of the MD schools as the schools with the worst weather? How can the weather be worse at Loyola than at Johns Hopkins, UMBC, or UMD?
ReplyDeleteAlso, Maryland weather really isn't bad. We haven't had a tropical storm or hurricane that was worse that "heavy rain" in years. Most winters are cold, but not extremely so. "Every few years" for a big snowstorm isn't that bad: it ain't Buffalo, that's for sure. Summer is the worst, as it can be oppressively hot and humid. But most students get out of town over the summer, and spring and fall are typically wonderful in the mid-Atlantic.
Look. It's working!
ReplyDeleteAlso, people's taste in weather varies. Some want to be warm in November, and some are traumatized if there's no nip in the air and the trees are monotonously green. Some students want to be able to snorkel on the weekends; others want to ski.
ReplyDeleteI've lived in Baltimore and Miami. I can vouch for shit weather both places. They don't tell you that in the summer in Miami it rains nearly every fucking afternoon. And the humidity? A girl's hair just can only frizz so much.
ReplyDeleteAnd Baltimore? Jesus Roker on a Pony... We had 24" of snow one weekend in October. That was a 100 year storm. Then we had 34" in February. A new 100 year cycle, presumably. And muggy again.
Uh, Kimmie, care to cite a source for that October storm? I don't recall ever having more than a flurry before late November, and neither does the National Weather Service (http://www.erh.noaa.gov/lwx/Historic_Events/md-winter.html). Also, 34" is an exaggeration, as the heaviest snowfall in Baltimore since 1891 was 28". Although, I suppose it's possible that there were 34" on the ground at a single point in time last year when we had two smaller storms in close succession.
ReplyDeleteAs long as we're cherry-picking data, the school with the worst weather is definitely Oxford (or Cambridge, or anywhere else in the UK). I just spent 3 weeks there and had one single solitary sunny day. Ugh.
"Miami is prone to deadly hurricanes that can throw a wrench in your class schedule"....the writer was dropped on his head as a child, yes?
ReplyDeleteNo mention of the northern schools like Columbia, Penn State, MIT, or Temple University* where it might snow, get rather windy, or rain a lot in the fall/winter (and are frying pan hot in the summer.) Certainly the weather isn't extreme, but it does have an effect on the sidewalks (some places I've been have areas where the pavement is rubble thanks to tree roots and ice damage) and how warm the buildings are in winter.
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* A smallish university in Philadelphia, PA.; Bill Cosby's alma matter.
Hi BringBack. I have nothing but time. Here's the February storm I reference above. You're one hundred percent right on Baltimore. I taught in Baltimore but lived a little south. I had 34" at my place, but totals ranged from 28" to 48" over the President's Day weekend.
ReplyDeleteI didn't consult any national weather service for my comment above, so I may have to retract my October comment. I trust you've done your best to make me feel small, and perhaps it wasn't October. You win!!! As for what happened in February, fuck you and read the evidence.
The Blizzard of 2003, also known as the Presidents' Day Storm II, was a historical and record-breaking snowstorm on the East Coast of the United States and Canada, which lasted from February 14 to February 19, 2003. It spread widespread heavy snow across the major cities of the Northeastern US, making it the defining snowstorm of the very snowy winter of 2002-2003. All cities from Washington DC to Boston were covered in 15 to 36 inches (38-76 cm) of snow, and those cities were brought to a standstill due to problems caused by temperatures and the snow. In Baltimore and Boston, this was the biggest snowstorm on record, with 28.2 and 27.5 inches (71.6 and 69.9 cm) respectively. Suburban areas in Baltimore recorded even more snow, up to 48.0 inches in some areas.
There was a GIANT President's day storm in the northeast in 2003. I spent the weekend with my brother and his family in Towson and we had about 40 inches.
ReplyDeleteWhoever wrote that article is a wuss. While I agree that Syracuse, Minnesota, and ND should be on the list, where the heck is SUNY Buffalo or Oswego? Located in the Great Lakes snow belt, their winters are living hell.
ReplyDeleteBringBack
ReplyDeleteCould you provide your dates for Oxford. Using the WeatherUnderground.com's history feature, I'm finding more than a few days with "clear" periods over the past month or so, therefore I'm highly suspect of your statements about the weather there. Thank you. I'm standing by.
This thread is why I hate the Internet.
ReplyDelete"This thread is why I hate the Internet."
ReplyDelete- Eating Low Salt
Now you know what ham radio is like on the shortwave bands - talking to guys in Slovakia about how cold it gets in San Jose.
@Kimmie
ReplyDeleteIn Florida, we generally assume that there will be rain every day around. It keeps our plants green and the palms happy. Not to worry about your plans; it generally goes away after 20 or 30 minutes.
@Cynical
OMG I know, SUNY Buffalo! I interviewed there once and it was the MOST dismal, dreary day. Endless parking lots, so much snow that the buildings are connected so no one has to go outside. Misery.
@the article itself
Chicago isn't literally windy. That was a PR campaign created by NYC about politicians as both cities were competing for the World Fair location about 100 years ago. Chicago itself is pretty nice, even if the winter is cold (surprising, I know) and the summers warm. Chicago is the 16th windiest city of the US. That's pretty far down there.
*there will be rain every day around 4.
ReplyDeletenot sure where that "4" went in my original post.
I liked summers in Chicago very much, and fall was pleasant, too. Then every year, there would be a howling blizzard on the first of November, which wouldn't let up until the first of June. Every February, the thought would spontaneously enter my mind, "Why does anyone live here?" Imagine my consternation when I moved to New Hampshire, and found that their winters are even worse!
ReplyDeleteEngland has a climate much like Seattle. There is never any direct sunlight: the muted shadows are recorded perfectly by videotape in many low-budget Dr. Who episodes.
Criticizing Florida for its weather is reaching. Hurricanes don't even happen every year. The daily 3:30-4 p.m. thunderstorm in the summer got me into the habit of buying a UPS for every computer. I saw a coral snake just outside a classroom building once: red touches yellow, kill that fellow, red touches black, good for Jack.
Don't you remember that the site for Washington, D.C. was chosen because the hot, humid summers and cold, raw winters would be a deterrent to career politicians? John F. Kennedy called it "a city of southern efficiency and northern charm."
Most of these US locations *occasionally* have bad weather. Try the Canadian prairies -- we have harsh weather for almost the entire fall and winter terms (plus, plagues of mosquitoes in the summer term). Grow a pair, Americans.
ReplyDeleteWhat makes a bigger difference than the weather itself is how well designed the campus is for the climate. Reliable heating and A/C in all buildings, weather-proofed windows in older structures, underground tunnels, locker space for students' winter coats -- these are the things that matter.
How can the University of Minneapolis have bad weather, given that it doesn't exist? Or... wait... if you're at the University of Minneapolis, and therefore in the void, and there is therefore no weather or anything else, is that bad, or is that good? What is the sound of zero snowplows not plowing no snow?
ReplyDeleteAlso, how could they leave off Cal State Northridge, with its intermittent periods of rapidly varying ground level and falling architectural pieces-parts?
Yeah, balls to y'alls! The Neil Young and Randy Bachman song "Prairie Town" has the line "Portage and Main [a major intersection in downtown Winnipeg], 50 below" and it isn't an exaggeration. And thats -50 Celsius, you wimps. I was there once during 'average', 'typical' Winnipeg winter weather and I had the pleasure of feeling the excruciating pain of having the liquid on the surface of my eyeballs freeze in place. And once when the Red River REALLY flooded in the spring, good portions of the campus and all the basements at the U of Manitoba disappeared under water. And Winnipeg is the Mosquito Capital of the World. You couldn't pay me enough to have a t-t job at U of Manitoba.
ReplyDeleteUniversity of Alaska Fairbanks
ReplyDeleteWeather is the biggest reason I didn't consider that school for undergrad.