<p>And you know it’s once in a lifetime because you’ve lived in Michigan your whole life, right?</p>
<p>It happens every few years, but nobody cares enough to keep track. I just remembered that year specifically because I had to drive all over southeast Michigan that day on some of the busier highways, which were cut down by a lane because of snow drifts.</p>
<p>So where can you go to college and see the Northern Lights?</p>
<p>Northern Michigan, Michigan Tech, any “northern” colleges in upper and upper lower Michigan, Minnesota and I would guess North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Alaska…I saw them one time in the 7 years I lived in Minneapolis but only because i was “outside of the city” that night. Couldn’t tell you about Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, upper New York State or Washington State.</p>
<p>Hmmm…I live in Maine, and I’ve only ever seen the Northern Lights in the northern part of Michigan, on the lake. (Not the UP, but near the top of the southern penninsula.) Maybe you can see the lights farther north in Maine.</p>
<p>Carleton is known for embracing the cold, with broomball: [Carleton</a> College: Intramural Sports: Broomball](<a href=“http://apps.carleton.edu/campus/rec/im/offerings/broomball/]Carleton”>http://apps.carleton.edu/campus/rec/im/offerings/broomball/)</p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>Broomball is a riot. When I was in grad school in Minneapolis I played on a broomball team. Had never heard of it 'til I was in Minnesota.</p>
<p>Wasn’t Hans Broomball a character form James Michener’s novel “Centennial”? ;)</p>
<p>^^^ They’re hardy souls at Carleton. I once interviewed a Carleton alum who told me they had a saying at Carleton: “There’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing.”</p>
<p>U of Alaska-Fairbanks is a good choice for a northern lights fanatic.</p>
<p>Snowiest? I’d bet Syracuse.</p>
<p>Boston is cold, but it is not nearly the coldest area for colleges. The fact that it is by the coast helps keep it much warmer than inner New England in the winter. UVM is freezing, along with basically every other college in Vermont. If you’re looking to stay away from the cold but still be in NE, I’d reccommend Boston, or any other college along the coast.</p>
<p>There is Damp Grey Cold, and there is Dry, Clear-sky cold. </p>
<p>Upstate new york tends to the have former, due to mosture coming off of the lakes. </p>
<p>Eastern New England tends to have brighter, dryer winters, which are less depressing.</p>
<p>One New Englander told me that the coldest winter she ever spent was in Virginia: damp, damp, damp.</p>
<p>Minnesota Schools easily are the coldest. This year was one the worst winter in 100 years. Coldest temperature was -35 w/o the wind chill. You know its cold when above 0 is considered “warm.”</p>
<p>NYC, Philly, and DC aren’t terribly cold, and there are tons of schools in the area. Penn State on the other hand is in the mountains and is very cold in my opinion, although i am sure not as bad as Minnesota or North Dakota. Boston schools will have a tendency to be very windy, which will bring down the wind chill considerably, so keep that in mind.</p>
<p>Coldest regions are Upper Midwest (Minnesota, northern Michigan, Wisconsin, the Dakotas), upstate New York, and New England.</p>
<p>^Most of New England doesn’t get that cold. I’ve never been to the upper half of Maine, but East of that it’s not as cold as upper Midwest. Chicago doesn’t get that cold on the larger scheme of things, either.</p>
<p>It’s the wind that makes Chicago winter so nasty.</p>
<p>D1 did one Chicago Winter and that was enough. Back to DC.</p>
<p>UAF. Most people stop skiing when it goes below -20 F. Expect to break -40 F at least a couple times.</p>