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Comment by briga | Hacker News Reader

I think California has created this myth that constant sunshine = perfect weather. I personally like things like summer thunderstorms, snowy winters, mild cloudy days, and rain. It's definitely not bad weather, but the lack of variety and endless dry smoggy summer months can get pretty old.

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The myth is from people that moved to California from other states. I moved from the the midwest to Southern California. I can't see myself going back to harsh winters and extreme summers. My overall well being has increased and the sunny days helpf with consistent mood levels. This is coming from someone who loved the four seasons and claimed they were required. I realized that humans populate most climates in the world and there isn't one size fits all.

Same here. I like the "idea" of four seasons. But after living in socal, I discovered I really only need a few days a year of the cold wintery weather. And then I'm over it. I get that from travel. Not to mention how summers are so much hotter in the Midwest and south.

Mid 70s and sunny is hard to beat. It's like an eternal spring.

Yeah, definitely agree there, my enjoyment of winter lasts all of about a few weeks. There's no perfect climate, and if you do winter sports or something more power to you, but after the beautiful snow, when you have to deal with slush and road salt, I could do with skipping from like, Jan 1 to Apr 1.

There is a place where you can have seasons, yet they are mild. And there is a reasonable cost of living, if you so choose. And it has public transportation, which is not ideal but better that many other US cities. And it has a huge number of software jobs, an educated populace, and culture. Washington, DC

Isn't D.C. really humid? It was built on a swamp, after all.

Yes, that's the one thing you can't minimize or bargain away.

I think that's a personal thing; I found eternal spring pretty boring. It's not objectionable, certainly. It's just kinda meh. Don't get me wrong, you can get far far worse but I'd rather have seasons.

You can very much have four seasons without harsh winters and extreme summers though - you can just have regular winters and lovely summers.

What surprised me the most about SV's weather is how it affected my perception of time. Without the slow rhythm of the changing seasons, ten years passed in an uncertain blur. I find it very hard to place memories in any given time.

Maybe that's just an effect of getting older. I just moved away to a place with four seasons again, so we'll see!

Snowy winters is a nice idea when you can sip a warm drink cozied up inside and play winter sports.

When you have to shovel the drive way twice a day and five minutes later the city snow plow throws half frozen slush on your drive way, you start to crave a warmer climate.

If you're shoveling twice a day, you should consider doing as they do in Alaska and simply stop shoveling it. Drive on the snow if it's snowing so much that you have to shovel twice a day.

I thought I wanted four seasons when I first moved here, but after a few years I found a short trip to Tahoe quenched my entire desire for winter in a week or less, and I was glad to come back to no snow to shovel. I can't imagine going back to the northeast, and I would melt in the south.

I definitely agree with you. I don’t like the Bay Area’s weather and much prefer that of the Midwest and Northeast where you fully experience all four seasons. I like hot summers and winters full of snow. Even within CA I’d prefer the weather of LA over that of the Bay Area. SF in particular had very depressing and disappointing weather for me — uniformly chilly and overcast most of the time.

I guess that may depend a lot on where you started from. I've lived in Hong Kong and then grew up in Florida, went to school in New England, and then lived in Texas for a while before moving to the Bay Area. The Bay Area weather is insanely good by comparison. The general trends are so stable and predictable. It's nice temperate and dry most of the year. I used to be a pretty avid runner. I went to visit my buddy in Houston and we went running. I had to stop after 3 miles (I normally run 5 to 10 miles in the morning) because it was so hot and humid. It made me really respect people who exercise in areas where the weather isn't so amendable to outdoor activities.

(Updated: I just read all the sibling comments. We are nearly all from other states and have now all become huge weather weaklings from living in CA!)

It's a not a myth if you're in the SF Bay Area. Other parts of CA are terrible. As you've pointed out it's both smoggy and hot. Coming from FL where there are only two seasons, I call Bay Area's weather "air conditioning" weather. It feels like you're in a really nice climate controlled building, but outside with sun. That said, it's not going to last with climate change. Air quality is already taking a beating with all the forest fires, and it's getting hotter and hotter. Pretty soon, it'll be no different from what people think of today as SoCal weather.

I moved to SoCal from New England, and I miss the weather there so much! I don't hate 70s and sunny, but I genuinely miss thunderstorms, clouds giving way to downpours, the quiet after fresh snowfall, the shock of stepping outside on a winter's day, the glee and madness of watching hail suddenly fall on a spring day.

Comparing that to not being able to work outside because the state is on fire and the air quality has been before recommended levels for a week is not my favorite tradeoff.

The weather in SF is boring. Seasons are much better. I like cold winter, fall, warm spring and hot summers.

It's rarely unreasonably cold or unreasonably humid and hot.

And almost everywhere else has large numbers of days where one of the above is true.

Sure, it would be neat if we could have one snowy day a year and a summer thunderstorm or two, too.

To each their own I guess. We'll gladly take the "boring" year-round spring over harsh winter (-30/40 windchill, hazardous winter driving, etc).

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