<p>I'm from Pittsburgh, and love the snow, but feel depressed in winter after a while (mainly February and March, the extreme armpits) Also, would I not be ready for a Wisconsin winter? Thanks! </p>
<p>Sidenote: I have yet to check it out, but I think that Wisconsin is my number one choice.</p>
<p>Winters vary from year to year. Some are cold, some are snowy relative to the average. Generally there is a midwinter mild time of a few days sometime in February- with temperatures well above normal. It is usually sunny when coldest. Do not let fear of winter scare you away from a great place. You will have the distractions of college life including academics to keep you going. Remember also that the days will keep getting longer- the shortest ones are in December and January during winter break. Madison does not get lake effect snow that is found along the huge lakes bordering states.</p>
<p>I lived in Chicago.</p>
<p>So I would say the answer to your question is:</p>
<p>BRUTAL</p>
<p>Coming from Pitt it should not phase you much. It’s not Fairbanks or North Dakota.</p>
<p>Hey, it is cold. Being from Pitt will help, but it will still be cold. </p>
<p>My now junior son’s biggest concern in choosing UW was the weather (from Virginia). BUT, he loved everything else about the school - it was the right fit for him so we encouraged him not to let the weather stop him. In high school he would just throw on a fleece in the winter. In Madison he has and wears a big down coat, hat, gloves, and boots. He often fills a travel mug with coffee for his walk across campus on a cold morning. The cold is still not his favorite part of Madison, but he has adjusted and says it is really not that big of a deal. And many of the cold days are sunny. There are a few truly miserable days, but it is not all the time. </p>
<p>He loves it there and has been extemely happy with his choice, cold weather or not. The winters can get long, but there is so much going on it is hard to get too down (although you should know yourself…if you really won’t be happy, there are other good schools out there)…concerts, basketball and hockey games, 2 big indoor gyms, 2 big unions, multiple library spaces so can change up study spots, snowball fights, restaurants, movies, and tons of people around so always someone to chat with. </p>
<p>If you truly hate the cold or have real and significant seasonal issues, then don’t fool yourself, but if you dress properly and get involved with your work and activities, the winter can be just fine. And the summer and fall are amazing. Son lived in Madison last summer and will do so again. It is awesome. He’ll do his study abroad 2nd semester so that will knock off one of the winters. :-)</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>I live near the Minnesota-Wisconsin border and they’re pretty darn cold. They can also be quite long - last year I believe we had snow for 6 months out of the year, but they’re not unbearable.
Just make sure you have warm clothes. :)</p>
<p>Thanks everybody! All of the responses were helpful!</p>
<p>I don’t hate the cold, and would dare to even say I enjoy it, but hate how it lingers on in the years. I bet in college I’ll be so occupied it won’t even bother me that much, though.</p>
<p>All of the responses were helpful, but thank you travelfun for going into so much detail. It is good to have a response from someone who actually transitioned from pretty warm weather to Wisconsin.</p>
<p>I grew up near Pittsburgh and have lived the past 33 years here in Madison. Winters in Pittsburgh are a bit warmer, but cloudier and wetter. Madison gets less snow overall. It is also significantly sunnier here in January and February, as well as windier. Personally, I like prefer the sun and cold over the warmer damper winter. Yes, it is sometimes bitterly cold, but I remember some bitterly cold days in PA as well. Overall, you will be fine.</p>
<p>Winters here definitely take some getting used too. The most important thing, and I can’t stress this enough, is to go get some appropriate winter clothing. Big coat, gloves, hat, scarf etc. if you do that the cold stops being much of an issue. It can be very cold and windy on campus if your near the lake.</p>
<p>Yes, Winter is darn cold. But if winter is what is stopping you from applying, then UW is not the right school for you.</p>
<p>When she was a junior in HS, my D and myself took the UW-Madison walking tour in a blizzard, with at least a foot of snow on the ground from before (winter of 2007-2008, when Madison had about 90" of snow, an aberration). I couldn’t believe it wasn’t cancelled, but the student tour guide said, “they don’t cancel ANYTHING up here!”.</p>
<p>It was D’s first college visit, although she had been on college campuses with her older sister. Afterwards, we wandered down to a bustling State St. & sat in a Persian cafe, warming up with hot cardamom tea & comfort food. I asked, “so…how do you like it?”, and she replied, “this is where I want to go.” She’s never looked back & it’s been a great fit.</p>
<p>Like other posters have said, don’t let the somewhat scary winters bother you. UW-Madison students wear it like a badge of courage, and believe me, they find ways to enjoy themselves even in the dead of January.</p>
<p>what if you’re from southern california? would the winters feel like basically death?</p>
<p>MY best friend came directly from LA in the middle of winter. He did fine and it was a colder than usual winter. Never even bought a real winter coat or boots. He was too cheap. Only a relatively few days are REALLY COLD, the rest you get used to. People still go out and have fun.</p>
<p>Anecdotes are nice, but this is a question that can be answered with actual facts, which are these: On average, Madison winters are slightly longer than Boston winters, but winter nights in Madison last much, much longer than they do in Boston and are much, much colder. Something to think about when walking home from parties late at night . . .</p>
<p>The average high temperature in Madison is below 50 degrees for the 136-day period from November 11 through March 27. The average low temperature is below freezing for 149 days – from November 7 through April 4. The lowest average low temperature in mid-January is a bone-chilling 9 degrees. </p>
<p>By way of comparison, the average high temperature in Boston is below 50 for 129 days – a week shorter than Madison – but the average low temperature is below freezing for only 90 days a year or a full two months shorter than Madison. And the lowest average low temperature in Boston is, at 22 degrees, 13 degrees warmer than Madison and warmer than a full three months of Madison winter nights.</p>
<p>Further south, the average high temperature in DC is below 50 for 80 days a year (56 fewer days than Madison), while the average low temperature is below freezing for 62 days a year (87 fewer days than Madison). The lowest average low is 28 degrees (19 degrees higher than Madison and warmer than more than four months of Madison winter weather).</p>
<p>Coastal towns are always warmer on the East Coast due to warmer ocean currents. How’s that snowstorm working for you? Compare to cities in Vermont or New Hampshire. Nobody seems too worried about going to colleges in Vermont or New Hampshire due to the weather.
Yes it get cold. That’s why they sell coats and gloves.</p>
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<p>No place has the best weather or climate. California may claim good weather but deals with desert dryness in its foliage. Places that have warmer winters have hotter other seasons students are around. No air conditioning would make many desirable places intolerable for most attempting to study. You do acclimate to weather- bitter cold feeling fall temps will seem balmy in early spring. Wanting to spend time indoors is more conducive to studying than a beckoning outdoor temperature. Easier to rush to your destination in cold than heat. Madison may have cold, but also sunshine- clear skies allow the temperatures to fall. Could be more pleasant to view a cold clear day than a warmer cloudy/rainy one as in the Pacific Northwest from your indoor study place. Snow doesn’t soak through clothing the way rain does.</p>
<p>Remember- you are choosing a college for your education, not as a place to plan on living forever. Evaluate colleges on everything else and see if a place is a top contender. Then add in weather. Also do not consider the proximity to off campus amenities that much. With a great campus everything you need to satisfy you in your out of classroom life will be available in/around campus. People do not choose Dartmouth for the weather or proximity to a large city but for the education and campus life. People choose UW-Madison for the academics and campus, not its ease in visiting places like Chicago. People who choose colleges in the Chicago area should not be looking at replacing campus life with Chicago activities, nor LA for visiting the beaches all of the time.</p>
<p>You do need to visit Madison when classes are in session. Mingle with students and see if you like the people you observe/encounter. Students may be complaining about the weather the day you choose to visit, but you can tell if they are otherwise happy. You could get a chance to experience winter in the best way possible- when you are young and have time to play in the snow, don’t need to drive in snow or otherwise be involved in any work associated with it. You will find heated buildings and cleared sidewalks.</p>
<p>The OP didn’t ask about Vermont or New Hampshire. The OP asked about Madison. </p>
<p>Let’s try this. The OP is from Pittsburgh. The high temperature in Pittsburgh averages below 50 from November 24 to March 13 – about a month fewer cold days than Madison. The average low temperature in Pittsburgh is below freezing from November 20 to March 26 – about three fewer weeks of below-freezing weather than Madison. But, again, and here’s the kicker, on average the lowest low temperature in Pittsburgh is 20 degrees, but only for a couple of weeks in mid-January, while in Madison it’s BELOW 20 degrees at night – and often well below it – for three full months of the year.</p>
<p>Wis75 is absolutely right to advise the OP that a college applicant should keep the weather in its proper perspective when coming up with a list of colleges. But barrons is just as wrong to tell a prospective applicant that “only a relatively few days are REALLY COLD.” It just isn’t true, just as it wouldn’t be true to say it doesn’t get really cold in Vermont or New Hampshire.</p>
<p>Well they did not ask about Boston or DC either now did they? I lived in Madison and Chicago for about 8 years during some of the coldest yeasr they have had. Once you actually spend a few months in the climate 10 degrees is not bad at all unless it is really windy. 32 degrees after a cold snap will feel very confortable. When I say really cold it is the days where it stays in the single degrees range for the high and well below zero at night. Over the last 20 years anywhere below zero happens about 20 days per year or 7 days per month over the winter months. Most of that is late late at night when most folks are sleeping. </p>
<p><a href=“http://www.aos.wisc.edu/~sco/clim-history/7cities/graphics/msn-d_tn_le_0F_ann.gif[/url]”>http://www.aos.wisc.edu/~sco/clim-history/7cities/graphics/msn-d_tn_le_0F_ann.gif</a></p>
<p>This is an old topic here. I’ve been in Madison since 2004. It is cold. It gets cold early and it stays cold late. You can dress for it, but if you are like me you’ll never get to like it. It is cold at night and in the morning when you walk the dog. The wind especially near the lakes saps your soul on a five degree morning. There are days when 15 degrees feels like a blessing. Each winter is different so some are not so bad. Honestly, last winter I was glad I lived in Wisconsin and not back in DC where I lived for thirty years or NJ where I grew up. Wisconsin did not have Hurricane Irene or last week’s Nor’easter. We did have 101 inches of snow and spring flooding several years ago. Now that was some weather.</p>
<p>Madison has many things to recommend it like a temperate summer, but winter is not one of them. The only blessing is that we are in southern Wisconsin. G-- only knows how the people up north on Lake Superior manage.</p>
<p>You are old. Same reason I’m not retiring there and going to South Central Virginia–cold is tougher on us older folks. According to the chart you have had relatively mild winters. I was there when it was really tough circa 70-80.</p>
![http://www.aos.wisc.edu/~sco/clim-history/7cities/graphics/msn-d_tn_le_0F_ann.gif[/url]](http://www.aos.wisc.edu/%7Esco/clim-history/7cities/graphics/msn-d_tn_le_0F_ann.gif%5B/url%5D){kind=link}
