^ Temps tend to be warmer by the lake than, say, a few miles inland. (and the opposite in the summer!). “Could be worse” is probably small comfort to those coming up from the south, however :-S
Lake effect snow, because it’s a product of winds that blow east, mostly buries western Michigan. Otherwise Chicago would get that much more snow.
This pedantic correction is brought to you by two quarters of Core PhySci classes.
I believe the point about climate change stands.
@JBStillFlying “Temps tend to be warmer by the lake than, say, a few miles inland. (and the opposite in the summer)”
This year, however, is quite unique. There were quite a few days in the last two month lake front was actually hotter than the suburbs. And during the winter months of 2018 there were days Hyde Park was much more snowy and equally cold as in the suburbs. I have no scientific explanation but I am blaming it on climate changes 
.
For all the non-Chicagoans(especially anxious parents) : when you check the weather of Chicago, the official report is from O’Hare. It happens quite frequently that it will be sunny and 80 degree at O’Hare while at Hyde Park it will be 65 degree and breezy. So put in the zip code of either 60615 or 60637 if you want Hyde Park weather.
“And during the winter months of 2018 there were days Hyde Park was much more snowy and equally cold as in the suburbs. I have no scientific explanation but I am blaming it on climate changes”
And/or where the front happened to be moving and what it’s doing in the local area. We have the same in Minneapolis/St. Paul suburbs. Ours will be missed. Others will get completely socked. Behind the front it will be cold. And of course, it depends on which 'burbs (which cover a fairly wide area) - quite possible that something coming from SW misses Barrington and hits Hyde Park/Loop. The effect I was referring to would be, say, if you start at the lake on an 80 degree day in late spring and head five miles west, it will very likely be a few degrees warmer, assuming the weather hasn’t changed. Are you saying that’s wasn’t the case?
“It happens quite frequently that it will be sunny and 80 degree at O’Hare while at Hyde Park it will be 65 degree and breezy. So put in the zip code of either 60615 or 60637 if you want Hyde Park weather.”
Ah - now that’s the Chicago I remember!
lol it could snow before thanksgiving. ya never know…
But in general Chicago falls are very nice. It’s quite a change from my east coast hometown that gets awful, dreary, and wet autumns and gorgeous springs. Spring in Chicago sucks tho. None of the first years believe me when I say not to expect it to regularly stay above 60 until late May!
I dunno- you can protect against the weather- its the succession of dreary days and dirty snow on the ground in Jan/Feb/March that gets me down.
The Midwest has two seasons: Winter, and Road Consruction.
Does it really not snow in Chicago before Thanksgiving? Where I grew up, in a different part of the Midwest but not so far from Chicago (and certainly not north of it), it always snowed at least once in October (without necessarily sticking), and there was snow on the ground roughly every third Thanksgiving. During the period in my life when I drove there the night before Thanksgiving every year, it was completely common to have a white-out snow storm on the way. (But, yes, that was lake effect snow, and @DunBoyer is right that absent really unusual conditions of the sort that ended Michael Bilandic’s political career that doesn’t happen in Chicago.)
Anyway, my vote would be it’s nuts to leave all the warm stuff at home until Thanksgiving. If your kids are typical, there are pound and pounds and square feet of stuff they are planning to bring to college that they will never use (or in some cases even unpack). Toss some of that stuff and pack the warm clothes.
@NorthLeftCoast - please thank your daughter for being an O-Aide. All of us incoming students and parents appreciate the immense amount of work that must go into this.
Are the O-Aides very kind returning students who volunteer to help lug boxes? Are they paid for this or do they just do it because they’re nice people who happen to be masochists?
If some generous soul is going to help us lug whatever worldly possessions my son happens to pack (if he manages to pack at all) up flights of narrow unairconditioned stairs, sounds like more than a verbal thank you is in order. If the O-Aides are paid and doing this to earn $$$ for college, maybe slipping them some cash would be an OK thanks, but if they’re volunteers doing it because they like that stuff a more personal thank you of homemade cookies or something similar might be more appropriate. Hm.
Do you have a suggestion of what your daughter would appreciate as a thank you? If kind people are going to help us, I want to be prepared with a nice way to thank them so want to know what to pack/bring.
We are fed and housed for the week-plus we’re here. We get to meet a lovely group of first-years a week early. And we get a T-shirt. Surveys say 136% of us are just here for the T-shirt.
If you slip us cash, we will probably look confused and ask it you’re running for alderman.
The O-Leaders, who run campus-wide events during the week, are paid. I can only assume they’ll pocket the cash and promise you five votes from their household. There are a lot of them, so that could quickly get expensive.
I have never known a UChicago student to turn down homemade cookies, though there’s a first time for everything.
OK, will bring a supply of homemade almond biscotti. You couldn’t pay me enough to run for any elected office so I would not want to create any confusion.
I have been living in Chicago for over 25 years. In the last 5 to 10 years winter in general has become milder and drier. In 2015 around Thanksgiving, however, there was a snow storm with 11 inches of snow but that was the exception rather than the rule. Still I agree with @JHS to bring at least one piece of cold weather clothing just in case this year has some freaky cold weather in November.
More importantly, especially for students coming from south of the Mason-Dixon line, bring a pair of shoes with good grip (maybe a pair of trail running sneakers). I am not worried about the cold weather but the icy pavement can be a big hazard. Teenagers are never concerned about cold weather but walking on snow covered ice may be treacherous for a teenager from South Florida or LA. You don’t want your kid sprained his/her ankle in the first quarter.
@milee30 Cookies for the O-Aides? You would go down in history as one of the best parents ever. Honestly, just saying thanks is very appreciated.
We had amazing O-Aides when we moved our daughter in two years ago. We flew in with 6 large suitcases, to which we had added several sacks of purchases. Her dorm is B-J, so we knew we’d have a few flights of stairs to navigate. As we waited for the check-in desk in front of the dorm to open, two girls came and asked which house our daughter was in. They turned out to be the O-Aides for our D’s house, and they said they’d come back to help us. While my daughter and husband carried their fair share, those young ladies hauled the bulk of it, while I ended the day having carried one pillow, and I had to insist on carrying that! Their energy and enthusiasm were infectious, and they popped into the room several times to see if we needed anything or had any questions.
Because of our experience, and possibly a little because she’s a masochist as you mentioned, she applied, and was chosen, to be an O-Aide for the Class of 2021.
As @DunBoyer said, they O-Aides aren’t paid, but they do get to move in a few days early and get to eat in a dining hall (although that is not a plus for my D lol) while they decorate the halls and doors for the First Years, and plan house events for them during O-Week.
No tipping is needed. Last year after my daughter and another O-Aide carried up a 70+ pound steamer trunk from the basement for one First Year, the mom tried to pay them. They declined. If it had been baked goods though, all bets are off.
Speaking from experience, the O-Aides know how stressful and frantic move-in weekend can be, and they do not expect anything in return for the baggage/boxes hauled, tissue proffered, directions given, reassurances offered. They are just there to help make the transition easier for the students and their families, and to get everyone’s year off to a good start.
Last year D’s room in BJ was on the ground floor and her hallway was filled with other first years. Maybe it varies by house and/or year but she and her friends have all vacated the ground level for “better” digs on an upper floor. So this year it is WE who will be hauling her worldly possessions up flights of narrow unconditioned stairs. Last year was easy! LOL. Hopefully it’ll be a tad cooler this time 
#:-S
Following on comment #31, layers are good! Sweaters, down jackets (including something that repels water), even a set of gloves and something over the ears is smart. Scarf too might be a good idea. Mornings in the fall will get cold and afternoons while sun is up much warmer so you want to be able to shed layers or outerwear and stuff into backpack. D had a very light down coat that she bought at Costco a few years ago that served the purpose. She didn’t have need for a heavy, sub-zero coat till Winter Quarter.
Not to disagree with any of the above but to put it in perspective: I came up from Texas to Chicago with nothing more substantial than a sort of waste-length “Eisenhower Jacket” with a fleecy lining. No gloves or headgear, and I was not a sweater-wearer. I crossed the Midway from BJ hundreds of times that first year. Don’t really remember being cold much, or only a bracing sort of cold for a few minutes until reaching a heated classroom or lecture hall. Hot coffee helps.
I’m going to give a little different advice. I lived in Marquette Michigan for eight years and I’d go for wind and water proof above warm bulky outerwear. The last thing you want to do is sweat in class and then go out in the cold. Between 10 and 32 degrees, a ten minute walk outside is not going to hurt you if you wear a fall weight windproof hiking jacket.
The best invention in clothing over the past twenty years are SmartWool socks. The worst are anything cotton. Jeans are bad when cold and wet.
SmartWool socks are great. So are shoes and jackets with Gore-Tex, which have gotten cheaper and more plentiful since the basic Gore-Tex patents expired a few years ago.
SmartWool is wonderful.
Good news - the forecast for move-in day shows nice, cool weather. For those of us with kids in dorms with no AC, the predicted high in the 60s sounds fantastic. Too far out to predict with certainty, but there also could be some rain.
I’ll take a little rain in order to have the cooler temps. Experience has shown my kid and I are both waterproof and it’s no biggie to wrap boxes and luggage in the ever-glam garbage bag or two.