Buffalo: The City of Good Neighbors. And Good Weather.

Then why does everyone in my office complain about Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) by late January every year?

i was born and raised in buffalo, i now live in san diego (ps - there's ZERO smog in SD) people always assume i left because of the weather and i always reassure them that's not the case - the weather is actually what i look forward to every time i come home now!

They complain about SAD because they fail to get outside in the winter and enjoy the sunshine or just appreciate the beauty that is winter. Instead they stay cooped up in an office or their house, waiting for it to pass. Because this weather is neither fit for man nor beast. They need to get out and take a walk at lunch feel the sunshine on their face.

There is no such thing as a place having perfect weather. It's all subjective and open to everyone's personal opinion. I don't find Hawaii or SD to have perfect weather because there are no seasonal changes. It's one of the things I love about living in Buffalo. I'm looking forward to the snow and doing some skiing this year. When spring comes, I'll be looking forward to the warm weather and doing stuff out on the lake. I couldn't live without that cycle of change every year. Florida's weather would bore the crap out of me.

I love the winter and it isn't even because I snowboard or ski, because I don't do both but because of the change, the crisp air. It really makes one feel alive. That is if you get out in it. I agree with downtowdweller that people get depressed in winter because they don't DO anything all winter.

Go out to a Cafe, how about a walk? Our winters are rarely too cold for a nice stroll and it will amaze you that after 10 or 15 minutes of walking outside, in the middle of winter... how you might just remove your hat and unbutton your jacket because you will produce plenty of heat to moderate yourself. The 30 seconds walk to the car, or the 2 minutes to the office are what kills people because they don't actually spend enough time outside for their bodies to acclimate.

I also wish.. WISH! that our local news stations would lay off the hype a little in the winter... If I see one more "winter weather warning" in Winter... I just might go crazy. It's January... in Buffalo... you don't need to WARN people about freakin winter weather! They don't flash warnings and interrupt TV shows because of Summer weather warning.. It's summer, its hot... got it. It's spring, it's rainy... got it! Quit the crap because all it does is instill in people that winter weather is BAD weather, and people try to run and hide from it, which reinforces their opinions that it is bad, because they never actually experience the good parts about it.

I for one can't wait to bust out the scarf and gloves and toss a couple snowballs around at my brothers.

You won't have to wait long, just till the end of the week perhaps, since they're forcasting snow.

Last year, we had a white Thanksgiving followed up by a snow storm at the beginning of each week in December. I still remember how sore my back was from shoveling all of it. Fun wow!

It's great to hear that others dislike all the weather hype the news does. Sometimes half of the 30min. is about how snow isn't plowed, or how slow people are driving on whatever road, or how this random person got stuck in a ditch. I don't care-that is not news. I rarely watch the local news because half the time I think "is there really nothing more important going on in the area that I should know about"? Also, I don't need a long montage about the "surprise October storm". Dig up some real news for once!

All months in Buffalo are fine to me with the exception of February and March. By then the winter has overstayed its welcome and its just cold, grey, wet, muddy and dirty snow (especially March)...yuck. Yeah I could do without those two nasty months. Thats just my opinion.

Western New Yorkers are notorous for complaining about the weather in my eyes. For some reason people thinks it's cold here in the Winter. Simply drive to the West of the Great Lakes and watch those daily temps hang in the -20 and -30 for day on end. That wonderful lake may give us some huge snowstorms once in awhile but it also keeps us relatively warm for our latitude. Other then our winter overstaying its welcome into March and April sometimes, I never have much of anyhting bad to say. Love all the seasons, active indoors and outdoors in all of them. Most importantly in regards to WNY weather my house has been standing since 1916 and Mother Nature in WNY seems to be much more kind as compared other parts of this country.

Do people in Colorado or Utah complain of SAD? How about Oslo or Stockholm? People who don't leave their homes in winter also don't leave their homes in 95 degrees in Arizona or Texas or Florida. I've been many places and very few have the quality of life we have. Heat and air conditioning are just as bad as the snow factor. I've heard it said that you can always add another layer of clothing in the cold, but you can only take so many off in the heat.

What a timely post, Todd! Coincidentally, there is a brand new book out called Frozen Assets: The Beautiful Truth About Western New York's Fourth Season, by Dr. Mark Donnelly, that addresses Buffalo's winter weather head on. Page through it at http://my.youturnpub.com/YouTurn/FrozenAssets/ and buy a copy for your favorite weather curmudgeon at www.BuffaloHeritage.com. It very cleverly debunks all those silly myths and exaggerations about our wonderful weather. Enjoy!!