Your ideal climate/location?

[Summer of 95]

This one's not too bad: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volgograd#Climate

That one isn't bad at all. Much drier than I expected, although still a bit too wet in summer. Good sunshine hours for inland eastern Europe though.

[Stargazer]

For the meteorological (but definitely not political) climate I think Harare does well (I've been there once, in early winter).  Beautiful dry sunny winters with pleasant days and cool nights with occasional frost, reasonably hot but not extreme summers with much of the rain falling as thunderstorms.  Being a mile high helps make the climate quite pleasant - the highest temperature ever recorded there is around 35C, lower than much of southern England.  Of course, as my user name suggests, the spectacular views of the southern sky would tend to persuade me too!

[Jax]

SolCal is rather nice indeed, have been there a few times and know quite a few people still there, also nice to be able to visit the "local" places in and around the area (took a drive round the Red Rock Canyon west of Las Vegas for example), even in winter it is not too bad, but Fire season can and often is a problem and seen what that can do with my own eyes.

[johnholmes]

Have to be Wengen for me, snow for 6 months of the year, summer, real heat but the dry type even at 4000ft for 3 with superb thunderstorms.

 

I forgot to mention the superb views all around with 6 or 7 mountains 10-12000ft within about 10 miles, take a look on the ski thread for the stunning auto web cams at 7-8000ft to get an idea?

Edited February 4, 2014 by johnholmes

[feb1991blizzard]

Miami has though. Damaging frosts can occur in southern Florida during very potent cold snaps. Plus, Key West has the distinction of being the only city in the Lower 48 states to have never recorded an air frost, or even a ground frost by the looks of it.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alert,_Nunavut#Climate

 

 

Good although summer highs of 20c still to high for me, don't forget you would have to have good insulation because of the coldd in winter so would cause unbarable heat indoors like some flats I have lived in.

[Summer Sun]

Has to be Malta for me minimum of 10 hours of day light in the winter and around 15 hours by the longest day in June

 

around 3,000 hours of sunshine per year

 

an average of above 5 hours of sunshine per day in December to an average of above 12 hours of sunshine per day in July

 

an average of 90 precipitation days a year

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_of_Malta

[sparky1972]

good afternoon all, it has to be Lapland for me, in the depths of winter, very little daylight, cold and snowy,  wonderfull

[simshady]

Probably Longyearbyen in Svalbard for me. Highs in summer of 4-6 degrees. Average lows of -20 in winter. Snow cover from September to May and dark a lot of the year too.

[JK1]

climate like Thailand, Caribbean, Hawaii basically tropical climate or Subtropical climate like Fuerventura, Queensland Australia

Edited February 4, 2014 by JK1

[Thundery wintry showers]

For me it would probably be one of the hillier parts of central continental Europe- eastern France, Switzerland, southern Germany being the prime area. 

For example, the climate data for Munich:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munich#Climate

Or Gevena, which appears to have a warmer and sunnier version of the same sort of climate, with similar rainfall:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneva#Climate

 

I can't really fault their summers, which are warmer and sunnier than ours (though not excessively so) and with a greater emphasis on convective rather than frontal rainfall.  Continental thunderstorms are often dramatic but nothing like as dangerous as those in Tornado Alley.  The winters are a bit less ideal, about as cloudy as ours and are missing those "sunshine and snow showers" setups that we occasionally get off the North Sea in Britain, though on occasion Atlantic frontal systems can bring thunderstorms, sometimes featuring snow on the poleward flank- I remember Bottesford reporting such an event from Berlin during the early-December storm surge.  On balance though I would expect to prefer their winters to ours on average due to greater snowfall and temperature variability.

 

My main problem with most of the USA continental interior is that the summers are too hot and/or dry ("too dry" was certainly my first thought when browsing the California climate stats), while around the Great Lakes, the "lake effect snow" machine typically switches off during early winter when the lakes freeze over.  Most parts of New Zealand would be ideal sunshine wise but would suffer from relatively limited temperature variability, thunderstorms and snowfall, so I keep coming back to that area of central Europe.

Edited February 4, 2014 by Thundery wintry showers

[feb1991blizzard]

Not taking into account my loathing of heat, I would say the North Eastern USA near the lakes, bet they had a few Jan 87 / feb 91 events this year, all rolled into one winter!

[Gaz1985]

Gibraltar is another I like, hot Summers, very mild Winters http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gibraltar#Climate

 

I would hazard a guess that in Winter it is one of the mildest places in Europe, further east you go in the Med the chance of colder incursions pushing down from Eastern Europe in places like Greece and Turkey. Snow can fall right down to the coast in Crete.

Edited February 4, 2014 by Gaz1985

[Nick L]

The northern plains in the US for me. Cracking storms in spring/early summer as well as potent winter storms. Much more interesting climate than our seemingly perpetual Autumn! The Oklahoma climate was exciting but the summers are ridiculously hot, so a touch further north for me.

Edited February 4, 2014 by Nick L

[AderynCoch]

Good although summer highs of 20c still to high for me, don't forget you would have to have good insulation because of the coldd in winter so would cause unbarable heat indoors like some flats I have lived in.

20C is the record high. The average high for that time of year is just 6C.

 

Alert is the most northerly settlement in the world after all. Check out the variation in sunshine hours.

Edited February 4, 2014 by AderynCoch

[Zenarcher]

Zermatt Switzerland for me,

 

Went there a few years ago in the summer the picture below shows exactly what it was like a stunning place. Temperatures were really hot as well in the village with plenty of sunshine. I experienced several thunderstorms as well. If you want colder weather then take a 20 minute train to one of the mountains and you get to walk in snow even if its July then return to hot temperatures back down the mountain at the village.

 

 

Winter very cold temperatures and several months of snow as well. Plenty of sunny days to go out and enjoy the snow there are plenty of places to do sports or just take a walk and enjoy the scenery,

 

[cheeky_monkey]

You know what i would like to spend one year in Iceland and also one year in Cyprus

[hillbilly]

Makes me wonder why half our members live in this country,the other half must be house hunting in flash!  A bit surprised how some of you coldies missed upper teesdale or nenthead!

[AderynCoch]

Makes me wonder why half our members live in this country,the other half must be house hunting in flash!  A bit surprised how some of you coldies missed upper teesdale or nenthead!

Good by UK standards but bettered by many places abroad.

 

Also, the summers are naff.

Edited February 4, 2014 by AderynCoch

[Polar Maritime]

Makes me wonder why half our members live in this country,the other half must be house hunting in flash!  A bit surprised how some of you coldies missed upper teesdale or nenthead!

 

There's some real characters live in Flash. 

[johnholmes]

the postmistress in the 'olden' days was a character, did observations for the Met O long after she was capable really, but no one was up to stopping her, so everyone adjusted her readings of cloud/fog/visibility, temps were okay which is what was really important.

 

station 341 for those old enough to remember!

[Stormyking]

Im happy enough with the Isle of Wight climate and weather conditions and location, i feel we do quite well with the Storms.

 

But I would love to visit the midwest, due to being an avid storm lover. But then I love the snow also. Somewhere where there is always good snow and  plenty of thunderstorms, is my ideal type of place

[NorthYorksWeather]

Although Flash maybe the highest village in England, I would rather live in Greenhow Village in the Yorkshire Dales (400-425 metres asl) as its further North so therefore prone to the colder air. They have had plenty of of transitional snow events so far this winter. 

[karyo]

Kamchatka Peninsula of course! Severe cold winters and short mild summers.

Add the fact that Kamchatka has several active volcanoes and that makes it a paradise for me!

Also, it has a small population and the countryside is unspoilt which is a huge contrast to the UK!

Hoping to go on a trekking holiday there sometime in the next few years.

Karyo

[Norrance]

St Anton or Lech (or the general area) in Austria for me. Cold and snowy Winters and plenty warm sunshine in the Summer with a few mountain thunderstorms and even the outside chance of a snowstorm at any time of year.

[damianslaw]

New England has a classic 4 season climate with cold snowy wet winters with the occasional very warm southerly plume for variety, followed by mixed springs with alternating cold and warm conditions, generally warm summers but with lots of variety and then mixed autumns..

 

British Columbia also another good spot for a similar climate.

 

Closer to home southern scandanavia or north Germany - colder snowier winters, mixed springs but good chance of lengthy dry weather, generally warm sometimes very warm summers with the occasional thunderstorm more so Germany and then mixed autumns with cold anticylonic conditions setting in by November.

 

For snowfall, Sapporo in Japan a good spot.

 

In the UK, probably N Yorkshire and Grampian area has the most varied weather, being closer to continental and arctic airstreams.

 

The climate here in the Lake District is just a bit too wet and far too dull for my liking, but when you have sparkling blue skies at any time of year in my opinion there are few better places in the world, a blue sky day in late May or June is pure heaven and likewise a freezing blue sky day in winter... oh for just one day of blue skies... the grey dank skies really is quite unique to this corner of the world..