I think I would get bored with California weather – the same weather year-round.
Cold weather can suck, but at least there is variety… and variety is the spice of life.
It depends on what you find gloomy. I’ve lived in so-cal and nor-cal and have had very different experiences. So-cal weather is always awesome IMO, best weather in the country. Norcal can be depressingly foggy or “muggy” at times depending on where you live, but especially in/around San Francisco. I personally find cold winter snowy days of the east coast better than gross muggy SF days.
You can basically draw a horizontal line at Richmond, maybe even as far north as DC. Above, will be cold and sometimes, maybe often, a snowy winter, though not necessarily gray and dreary. It can be bitterly cold in New England and around the Great Lakes, though you might be close to skiing. Below the line, you might get an occasional snowstorm or ice event, but will generally have a mild winter with a few cold spells and little frozen stuff, except in the mountains, which will be colder. Fall and spring will likely be very nice, and most of the academic year will occur during those seasons. In a lot of the East Coast, you will get a blossoming in the spring and brilliant colors in the fall, which can be especially beautiful on a nice college campus.
Spent a chilly, dark foggy long weekend in LA last year. Family living there referred to it as the “June Gloom” and I guess that’s a regular seasonal thing. Separate from smog which is also a bummer though I guess more prevalent in summer.
If you’re a Californian headed to the Northeast, you at least have the advantage of being mentally prepared for cold and snow. You know it’s coming.
In contrast, I know people from the Northeast who enrolled at UC Davis fully expecting to spend four years happily bathing in perpetual sunshine and warmth. “Tule fog ?? What’s that ??”
@OHMomof2 I’m from San Diego so when I say socal I’m always thinking about so-cal but excluding LA lol! I’m thinking more like Santa Barbara, San Diego.
I grew up in California (some time in Tarzana, most of my life in the Bay Area) and attend college in the midwest.
The weather is rough. I get sick pretty much every time the seasons change (so do most of my friends from the west coast) and I know I’m not ever going to handle freezing temperatures the way kids who grew up in the midwest can. I also know of kids having issues with seasonal affective disorder due to the lack of sunlight in winter months, and weather is a significant factor for most of the kids I know who are transferring.
East coast weather isn’t as severe as where I am, but I can say that most of my friends on the east coast hope to return to California after graduation. Transitioning to cold and snow isn’t easy if you grew up somewhere where you break out sweaters for 60 degree days.
Don’t forget, Californians do lots of skiing and other winter sports. From many flatland areas, it’s not that far to get to mountains. They know bundling up and nippy fingers. It’s not as if they live in some dome. or on a sailboat. It rains, too. And I think what we idealize is really the coastal. I never lived inland in CA (rather, SF, SDO, Santa Monica.) That’s different than other parts.
Does no one else really like rain? I have reverse SAD – hate summers and bright sunlight. I’ve lived up and down the East Coast and in the PNW. People like to say that it rains a lot in Seattle, but it’s not really true. It “lightly mists” a lot and is often overcast. But it rarely rains heavily and I can’t ever remember the “pour for 20 minutes and then turn bright and sunny” thing happening. The main thing, weather-wise, I miss about the East Coast is thunderstorms. They just don’t exist on the West Coast in any significant way. Such a downer.