My thought on the general "loudness" of cold months was due to reduced noise blocking or absorbing greenery like tree leaves, grass, etc. Which is then altered by a significant snowfall leading to sounds being softened again.
[0] https://wisconsindot.gov/Documents/doing-bus/eng-consultants...
Not sure how much of this would be complimentary to the acoustic effect of temperature. Either way, it’s not a simple single-solution explanation.
One group (me included) enjoys some levity, as long as it's high quality and doesn't get in the way of substantial discussions.
Another group would prefer that HN avoids that entirely.
It mostly seems like a matter of taste / preference, so I'm not sure how we can come to one kind on this, shy of seeing the pro-humour approach clearly hurting the site.