This entry is part 2 in the series The Diversity Of Seasons

Yellowstone National Park in Winter courtesy Pixabay.com

Since day one of the first part being published, this series has consistently had an entry amongst the top ten here at Campaign Mastery. Whether that magic continues or is subject-dependent remains to be seen, but – for now – I have to consider the serial blog format a success!

Part 1 of this series began a concordance of Seasonal Experiences with Winter descriptions for McMurdo (Antarctica), Hobart, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Tahiti, and Cairo.

This is part 2, which will cover Winter in Brazil, Puerto Rico, Miami, New Orleans, and New York City.

Part 3 will contain Omaha, Las Vegas, Washington DC, Chicago, San Francisco, and Honolulu.

Part 4 will detail Tokyo, Montreal, Madrid, London, Glasgow, and Berlin.

Part 5 will wrap up Winter, dealing with Switzerland, Stockholm, Moscow, Siberia, Anchorage, and Reykjavik.

Thereafter, parts 6-10 will handle Spring (same cities), parts 11-15, Summer, and parts 16-20, Autumn. At about 10,000 words each, the series should total approaching a quarter of a million words by the time it’s done! I intend to put a week’s gap in between each quartet, so it should be finished sometime toward the end of the year!! In fact, the goal is to finish by December at the latest.

So far as possible, and except where otherwise noted, all images used to illustrate this article have been sourced from Wikipedia Commons, and are used under creative commons CC3.0 or later. The montage above incorporates photographs by Carlos Perez Couto, Gustavo Couto, and Neil Palmer, respectively.

8. Winter In Brazil

Although, as a general rule, I have tried to make this about specific locations that could act as exemplars of the weather patterns experienced in that part of the world, it was essential that each location be somewhere that would be immediately recognized by the majority of readers. I didn’t choose French Polynesia, I chose Tahiti; I didn’t choose Egypt, I chose Cairo; and so on. Tropical Jungles are a key environment that needed to be represented, but when you look at a map, there are very few settlements of any size in those central regions of Africa, and certainly none that are household names; and while there are more large settlements to choose from in Brazil (i.e. locations large enough that I might be able to locate weather data for them), most of those hug the coastline and are still not recognizable by name to the majority. Thus, for the first time in this study, I have been forced to report on an entire region.

And it’s no small region, either. While mostly south of the equator, Brazil’s northernmost reaches do penetrate 5 or 600 km (310-373 miles) into the Northern hemisphere, while the southernmost tip of the nation is at roughly the same latitude as the bottom tip of South Africa, which is also the same latitude as Sydney. From it’s most northern projection to it’s most southern, Brazil is roughly 4400 km (2734 miles) in length! That’s the same as from central Guatemala to the northernmost borders of the continental US, or from Cairo to about 200km North of Helsinki, Finland, which shows the scale of the challenge posed by this part of the series!

One of the takeaways from part one that has received a lot of comment is that people never realized before how little distance it took to cause a profound change in the weather patterns experienced. Part of the “mission” for this series is to see whether or not that holds equally true no matter where you go, or do the differences become smaller per km in equatorial regions and/or extreme latitudes. The north-south distance between McMurdo and Hobart is more than TWICE that of Brazil (by a small margin). And if that seems unlikely to you, given the way things look on your world map, I suggest you consult my 2010 article, and still one of the most popular here at Campaign Mastery, Lessons From The West Wing II: The Psychology Of Maps.

This theory – that climatic differences are smaller and more generalized at the equator and the poles than through the temperate regions – will be directly tested by the weather of Brazil, and might just make the whole concept of rationally analyzing the climate of a location this large possible. So let’s get started…

According to Rikshaw Travel, “March to November are dry months and December to February are wet months in Southern Brazil. During the Brazilian winter (June to September) the weather in Rio and the surrounding area is similar to the summertime in Northern Europe. The rainforest areas, Pantanal and the Amazon, are warm and humid all year round. Tropical north eastern Brazil has two seasons, but you’ll hardly notice any difference between the two.”

Koppen climate classification map of Brazil by Organesson007; enhanced, modified and vectorized by Ali Zifan.

This seems to divide the nation into three zones (or perhaps four) – a northern and central zone, a coastal zone around the mid-point of the country, and a southern zone. You might get the impression that these are fairly equivalent in size, or at least that the first and last are; and, if South America were rectangular, and you included Argentina on your climate map, the latter impression would be accurate. The reality is that the third zone comprises almost 90% of Brazil, with the second being a very small area in comparison, and the first being somewhere in between these two in size.

Of course, climatologists – who deal with these matters in a far more nuanced way – further subdivide and refine their definitions, as shown by the map to the right.

On the map to the right, the rainforest areas are shown in shades of blue, the Rio areas are a peach color, and the southern area in green.

The Climates To Travel website defines the regions slightly differently. They distinguish between Equatorial Brazil, including the Amazon basin and the Rio pocket, the “almost Mediterranean” Subtropical areas of Southern Brazil, and the Tropical areas consisting of a small portion of the extreme North and the vast majority of the central areas of the nation. This disagreement clearly shows that the differences between regions are of nuanced degrees; you can’t dispute their existence, they are matters of statistical fact, but trying to draw dividing lines is

Because the site provides specifics for each region, the Climates-To-Travel definitions are the areas that I will use for the rest of this section.

But let’s be fair – when you think of Brazil, you think of the legendary weather of Rio writ large over the whole country while thinking of the Amazon rainforest, and that’s an impression that is altogether inaccurate.

Map adapted from one provided by Climates To Travel and believed to be © to them.

Southern Brazil

This part of Brazil is known as the “South Region”. Winter is from June to September. Evenings and nights can be cool; exceptional nights can approach freezing temperature. The farther south you travel, the cooler things get. Some days are cloudy, with rain, but there are also periods with significant sunshine. In fact, the average hours of sunlight per day are a surprisingly consistent 5-6 hours all year round.

Precipitation is the chief differentiation between the seasons. Rainfall is distributed throughout the year, but is less frequent and far less abundant in this time of year. April to September experiences 9 rainy days per month (on average) or less; in June, this tally drops to 6, while in July and August, it is 7. That’s one or two rainy days a week. The typical rainfall is 8-9mm per rainy day (about 1/3 of an inch). Again, the more southerly a location, the more strongly winter becomes the season of predominant rainfall, but the differences are largely statistical and not overly noticeable on the ground.

Although slightly north of the region when state boundaries are used as the basis of definition, Sao Paulo is considered to be on the boundary line between the climates, but is so heavy with atmospheric pollutants that the sunlight is often hazy even on clear days, and visitors frequently suffer nose and throat complaints. The winter weather of this area has been described as being like summer in Europe, especially the Mediterranean regions, as mentioned earlier.

Altitude is also a significant factor, as is proximity to the warmth of the breezes at sea level; the average difference from these factors alone is 3-4°C (up to 7°F), but it can easily be double that on a particular day or when a change comes through. Inland areas at altitude, such as Lages and Sao Joaquim, snow is possible from June to August.

As is typical of coastal areas, the ocean functions as a heat bank, storing vast amounts of energy during the daylight hours (and substantially less when cloud-bound); this produces an increasing pressure differential as the day proceeds, so that morning winds tend to be influenced by the temperatures of the mountains and afternoon/evening by the ocean temperatures. As a general rule, land is hotter than water, unless the land is snow-capped. A significantly cloudy day can lower the temperature of the breezes for several days afterwards even while moderating their strength. From late April through October, the sea temperatures are too cold for swimming, and only truly comfortable from January through March.

Map adapted from one provided by Climates To Travel and believed to be © to them.

Tropical Brazil

Tropical Brazil has two seasons but it can be even more difficult to distinguish between them in the Northeast than it is in the Rainforests. The average temperature is 26°C to 30°C (79-86°F) all year – and remember that the nights will be a little cooler than the heat of the day, so average maximums will be higher. Showers can be refreshing but may seem to do nothing but increase the already-uncomfortable humidity. From Rio south, the variations – night vs day, etc – tend to grow more pronounced, and the occasional sea breeze combines with the high humidity to occasionally cool things down. The rainy season starts in January; the next three months are showers interspersed with periods of sunshine. In April, the rain becomes more frequent and more intense, and the sunshine more and more intermittent, signaling that “winter” (such as it is) is imminent. Warmer weather and sunshine return with the coming of Spring as the rains suddenly become extremely infrequent.

In the areas where the dry season is shortest, the forest can grows as though it were in the equatorial zone, otherwise the vegetation is less dense and more savanna-like, with increasing aridity indicated by the plant life (shrubs, cacti, etc).

In the interiors of states like Bahia and Pernambuco, the annual rainfall is only (on average) 4-500mm (15-20 inches) per year, but rainfall in what is known as the Nordeste is highly irregular, and even though it doesn’t happen often, there can be torrential rainfall leading to the “winter” months (November to March).

Altitude in some areas (500-1000m i.e. 1600-3300′) can temper the heat a little, but has less influence than is expected by those hailing from more temperate climes.

In the far north of Brazil is the Massif of Guyana, another area covered by savannah. Photographs of region are reminiscent of parts of Arizona – if the desert floor were replaced with jungle – and also contain rock formations that are reminiscent of those found in Australia; compare the middle image of the three shown in the montage at the start of this article with that of the Three Sisters (near Sydney) that was included in Part 1 of the series. This region is located just a little north of the equator (from 2.5°N to 5°N), so it is fascinating to observe that the hemispheric seasonal “flip” is so pronounced in the region.

The weather data for Boa Vista, capital of the state of Roraima, and located close to the extreme south of the region shows the pattern very clearly: February and March are very clearly the driest months of the year, though October through January are only marginally wetter: starting with October, the average number of rainy days per month are 5, 5, 5, 5, 3,and 4. This 6-month range is clearly preceded and followed by transitional months, defining a 1-month autumn and 2-month spring. Humidity is noticeably lower during this period, making it far more comfortable than the rest of the year. Temperature averages scarcely change throughout the year – average minimums range annually from 22°C to 24°C (72-75°F), while average maximums range from 30° to 34°C (86-93°F).

Further east, the “least rainy” period is shorter and runs from September to November – again, the pattern is for “winter” to come later, the closer you are to the coast when close to the equator. As you travel further south, the “winter” season becomes more pronounced and also shifts toward the middle of the year; these impacts combine when you consider the climate of Rio de Janeiro.

July and August are clearly the driest months (only 4-5 rainy days per month), though May (6), June (6), and September (7) are only marginally damp more often. The average rainfall for these periods is more compelling; June and August, 45mm (1.8 inches) in the month, July 40mm (1.6 inches). September is only slightly wetter, receiving 55mm (2.2 inches). April-May and October are clearly transitional months.

Rio is far enough south to experience cooler temperatures in winter; highs from May to October fall to around 25-26°C (77-79°F), and this can be the best time of the year to visit the city unless you want to swim; it’s warm but not hot, the sunshine hours count is good, and rainy periods are rare (but still possible). The exception is because the sea is a bit cool at this time, 22°C or so, though it is still possible to swim if you are brave enough.

Rio marks an internal climatic boundary within the region; south of this point (and excluding the pocket of equatorial climate already discussed), the climate begins to be rainy all year and winter becomes progressively cooler. Typical of this region’s climate in the inland is the national capital Brasilia, where the weather is “pleasantly warm all year round”. A perpetual influence on Brasilia’s weather is the altitude of about 1,000m (3300′) above sea level. Average maximums range from 25°-28°C (77°-82°C) all year round, while average minimums, while a less reliable guide to any particular night, vary from 13° to 18°C (25°-27°F). Nighttime temperatures are more variable, but generally cooler in winter. Winter (May to August), short outbreaks of cold air coming from the south can lower night temperatures to 5°C (41 °F) or occasionally less. Precipitation in Rio defines the ‘dry winter’ period as May to August.

Map adapted from one provided by Climates To Travel and believed to be © to them.

Central Brazil

Also known as the Amazon Plain, but that gives the false impression that the two terms are synonymous. The most accurate name is Equatorial Brazil, which encompasses the Amazonian Plain, but extends beyond it. Most of this region was once the floor of a giant sea, and this area is full of places that have never been seen by anyone but native tribes indigenous to the area. The Brazilian rainforest is home to more “uncontacted tribes” than anywhere else in the world, many consisting of no more than a handful of members. Estimates of over 100 isolated groups are accepted internationally, and in September of 2017 it was reported that one such tribe were massacred by gold prospectors.

“Winter” is June and July, but the differences are marginal; the weather is hot and humid all year round, rarely falling below 20°C (68°F). These months are also the middle of the dryer season, when the wildlife is most active, but also notably less aggressive because food is in ample supply and they are aware that other predators are also active.

Rainfall comes as heavy showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon or evening. Winter is when rain events drop from two in three days to one in three or four. On the monthly scale, this drop is precipitous sudden; while there is a slight progressive buildup from the initial decline, there is an equally-sudden escalation in rain events in December.

Manaus, located in the center of the rainforest region, is fairly typical of the region, and provides a basis against which local variations can be measured.

The coastal city of Belem, for example, is hot and humid all year round (like Manaus) but does receive ocean breezes that can be soothing. Rainfall is more abundant, but follows a similar trend through the year, though the “dry” period (“dryer” period?) is delayed until October-November. The average number of sunshine hours per day for Belem is quite revealing of the weather pattern there: starting in January, these numbers are 4, 4, 3, 4, 6, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 7, and 6.

The dryer period (“less-rainy” period?) runs from August to November in the northern part of the Amazon, and June to September in the south/central part. Heavy rain remains possible in late afternoon regardless of season; these simply become less frequent.

The Salvadore region of the coast is notable for a very similar climate, though marginally drier; trade winds carry moist air from the ocean producing frequent rainfalls, the only difference is that they don’t last quite as long. This region still gets almost 2000mm (75 inches) of rainfall a year, but the interaction of trade winds and other climatic variables a drier summer, with Winter containing the wettest months. Compared with the main tropical region of Brazil, the weather is extremely topsy-turvy; temperatures and humidity tell one story, while rainfall tells another.

This montage includes a photograph of the beach Patillas by ‘Oquendo’, the skyline of San Juan by ‘cogito ergo imago’, and ‘the colors of old San Juan’ by Brad Clinesmith.

9. Winter In Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico (literally, “Port Rich”) is actually an archipelago among the Greater Antilles, consisting of the main island (also known as Puerto Rico) and 142 other islands, cays, and atolls. Of these, the only inhabited lands are the eponymous main island and the islands of Vieques and Culebra.

A Spanish property from 1493, Puerto Rico was obtained by the US as part of the settling of the Spanish-American War by the Treaty Of Paris. The citizens are, by law, natural-born citizens of the US and able to move freely between the island and the mainland.

Because it is not a state, Puerto Rico does not have a vote in the US Congress, though they have a non-voting representative called a Resident Commissioner. American Citizens residing in Puerto Rico are disenfranchised at the national level beyond this representative; they do not vote for the President or Vice-President, do not pay federal income tax, does not elect Senators, and the supreme political document is a constitution which permits residents to elect a Governor as well as local Senate and House.

While the numbers may give the appearance that the majority of citizens are indifferent to the question, a significant number have repeatedly shown a strong preference for full statehood over the present status as an Unincorporated Territory, arguing that the region’s needs are overlooked because of it’s status. The false impression is raised because one of the two major parties boycotted the last referendum on the subject. A second factor involves the government debt crisis that emerged in early 2017 after a decade-long recession. By August of last year, the debt was US$72 billion, the population was about 3.7 million, about 45% of whom lived in poverty.

Less than two months later, the territory was devastated by Hurricane Maria; the main island’s electrical grid was destroyed, creating the largest power outage in American History. Communications were also severely disrupted, roads cut, buildings leveled, etc. The total damage was estimated at US$95 billion, a situation worsened by the economic crisis which left the government ill-equipped to respond. By the end of November, FEMA had received more than a million applications for aid, and approved about a quarter of the requests. Many of the population found themselves without employment.

By the end of November 2017, more than 200,000 residents had relocated to Florida. It is estimated that despite the reported difficulties of the relocatees accessing health care and educational services, up to 14% of the population will depart for the mainland by 2019. Infrastructure and economic recovery is still continuing. It is accepted that completing that process and repairing the already-damaged economy will take years, and may not be complete by the time of the next Hurricane strike. Almost half the residents were still without electricity as of December, 2017, but two-thirds of the hotels have now reopened, for example.

Geographically, the main island is approximately rectangular, with a long-axis length of 180km (110 miles) and a maximum north-south length of 65 km (40 miles). The terrain is mostly mountainous with large coastal regions in the south and especially the north. The main mountain range is “La Cordillera Central” (The Central Range); the tallest peak of this range is Cerro de Punta at 1338m (4390′).

Puerto Rico has 17 lakes, all man-made, and more than 50 rivers, most originating in the Cordillera Central. Rivers in the northern region are typically longer and of higher water flow rates than those to the south, which receives less rain than the central and northern regions.

The Caribbean and North Atlantic tectonic plates intersect about 115km (71 miles) north of Puerto Rico at the Puerto Rico Trench, and the archipelago is being deformed by the resulting stresses, which can cause earthquakes, tsunamis, and (routinely), landslides. There has not been a major earthquake since 1918.

The climate is considered to be that of a Tropical Rainforest. San Juan, the largest city, is at a latitude of almost 18.5° North of the equator, so comparisons with the climate of Rio de Janeiro should be especially interesting (see ‘Tropical Brazil, above). Of course, being on the other side of the equator, the seasons will be reversed relative to that part of the world.

Temperatures are warm to hot all year, averaging near 29°C (85 °F) in lower elevations and 21°C (70°F) in the mountains. Easterly trade winds pass across the island year round. Puerto Rico has a rainy season which stretches from April into November; the winter is the dryer season. The mountains of the Cordillera Central are the main cause of variations in the temperature, wind speed, direction, and rainfall, and these can occur over very short distances and short time-spans. One source describes forecasts as “locally unstable” and indicating a general summary more than an accurate prediction.

Seasonal changes in the daily temperatures of the main island are quite small in the lowlands and coastal areas. The temperature in the south is usually a few degrees higher than the north and temperatures in the central interior mountains are always cooler than those on the rest of the island. The average maximum is 30°C (84.5°F) and the average minimum 19°C (82.4°F). Winter is roughly 3.3°C (6°F) cooler than summer, mainly due to the warm waters of the Atlantic, which significantly moderate cooler air moving in from the north and northwest.

The levels of sunshine scarcely change all year round, being consistently 8-9 hours a day, on average. Winter is the driest period of the year, running from January to March; December and April-June are transitional months, according to the average rainfall levels (with a significant anomaly in June). However, the rainy-day count per month displays the complexity of the local weather systems; January’s average is 17, very similar to that of the rainy period, while those of February, March, and April are 13, 12, and 13, respectively.

Coupling these facts together shows that winter starts with rainy periods declining in intensity and duration; over the next 3 months, they decline in frequency very consistently before abruptly increasing in intensity and/or duration but not frequency at the end of the winter season, as shown by the graph.

San Juan officially has a tropical monsoon climate. In winter, temperatures can drop as low as 16°C (60°F), though the average winter low is 6°C (11°F) warmer than that.

On average, a quarter of the annual rainfall comes from tropical cyclones, which are more prevalent during periods of El Nina than El Nino; a cyclone of tropical storm strength passes near to Puerto Rico every 5 years on average, while a hurricane passes the vicinity once every 7 years. However, a near miss is sufficient to cause significant infrastructure damage, as was the case prior to Hurricane Maria in 2017, another contributing factor to the region’s problems. Half of the hospitals were already operating on emergency generator power, for example.

Following Maria, the Jones Act’s protectionist measures were waived by President Trump for a mere ten days. This act essentially doubles the cost of goods relative to their neighbors. The manifest inadequacy of this relief measure means that tourism is the best means available to the locals for influxes of wealth and a return to (relative) prosperity.

Hence, there were numerous official declarations in the course of December that the island was once again open for tourism, and tourist attractions and accommodations were prioritized in term of restoration of services. This was the cause of some dissatisfaction at the time, but is at least understandable as the least-worst choice under the circumstances.

The peak season for tourism is Winter, but the advice offered by most travel sites is that most people will enjoy a better experience if they visit between mid-April through June, sandwiching your time in between the busy winter season and the rainy summer. Hotel prices can be over US$100 per night in the peak season, and as little as US$80 right after it, which adds up over a week or so.

Key events for this time of year include the San Sebastian Street Festival (January), the Maricao Coffee Festival (February), the Casals Festival (February-March), and the Ponce Carnival (March). The Puerto Rican Tourism Company will reportedly be announcing a series of ‘Rebuild Days’ where supporters of the island can come and contribute to its recovery, but none have yet been added to the event calendar. Some hotels are also organizing their own “voluntourism” efforts for guest volunteers.

Viewing that event calendar makes it clear that the majority of entertainments are smaller and more local in scale than those relatively major festivals – think more of numerous street parties with different themes, leavened with museum tours, historical re-enactments, art classes and demonstrations, and the like.

Puerto Rico is noted for celebrating Christmas/New Year from shortly after Thanksgiving (which is the fourth Thursday of November each year) until three weeks into January – almost 2 months of seasonal festivities, which culminate in the aforementioned San Sebastian Street Festival on the third weekend of January. San Sebastian st in old San Juan closes for four days of music, parades, and religious processions that have been described as the Puerto Rican Mardi Gras.

There are a number of unique cuisine specialties on offer at this time of year, including lechón asado (roasted pork), pollo guisado (chicken stew with potatoes and green olives), pasteles (mashed green bananas stuffed with meat and wrapped in banana leaves) and the coconut-based coquito (the Puerto Rican version of eggnog) which is available at almost every bar.

Some attractions remain closed for post-hurricane repairs, such as the EL Yunque National Park.

Most of the above information derives from Wikipedia and from the US News Travel Site‘s page, among numerous lesser reference sources.

This montage includes an image of Brickell Avenue by ‘Comayagua99’ which encapsulates almost everything for which Miami is famous (bright, modern, high-rise, tropical), and a photo of the beach at Virginia Key by Marc Avarette (completing the list of iconic elements).

10. Winter In Miami

My first exposure to Miami was almost certainly original episodes of Flipper when I was a child. I saw only one or two episodes of the Golden Girls and knew Miami Vice only through its associations and mentions in other popular culture such as John (Cougar) Mellencamp’s hit, “Miami”. No, until CSI Miami and True Lies came along, I think I knew more about the state of Florida in general than about it’s largest city. My general impression was always that it was “America’s Brisbane”, so it will be interesting to compare the information offered in part 1 for that city to what I’ve been able to glean about the American metropolis!

Well, to start with, Miami is a lot bigger than this impression would convey. Miami is the second-largest city in the South and East combined, by population, and has the third tallest skyline in the US with more than 300 high-rise buildings. It has branches (possibly even head offices) of more international banks than anywhere else in the US, and is second only to New York City as a tourism hub.

Not all of my early impressions are so inaccurate. Miami was ultra-conservative during the 1920s, with the chief of police proud to be a member of the KKK. Populations were relatively low until a land boom in this period, but the triple-punch of the end of that boom, the 1926 hurricane, and the Great depression slowed development. World War II saw Miami become a base for US Submarines defending against German submarines, which increased Miami’s population to a little over the 172,000 mark by 1940 – hardly a huge population!

The 1959 rise to power of Fidel Castro in nearby Cuba saw many Cubans relocate to Miami, and of course, the 1960s brought the Space Race to Florida. Seemingly overnight, the state went from being a half-forgotten backwater to being one of the best-known in the country, and what everyone knew about it was the sunshine. By the late 1970s it was known internationally as one of the favorite retirement destinations in the US, but few stopped to think about what that actually meant.

Every retiree requires several working-age people contributing to the economy in order to support them, and people go where the jobs are. On top of that, tourism was booming for the state, and Miami was the hub of it. By 2006, that 172,000 people had grown to 5.5 million – which means that on average it was doubling every five years. The city acquired the nickname “The Magic City” as a result of this rapid growth, winter visitors remarking that the city had grown so much from one year to the next that it was like magic.

While this growth has slowed, overall, one area in Downtown Miami saw a 2069% increase in population in the 2010 Census. One mitigating factor is that there is an ongoing migration of white residents out of the city, and that is having a profound effect on the demographics.

Racial Distribution in Miami in 2010 by Eric Fischer, inspired by Bill Rankin’s map of Chicago and based on data provided by the 2010 Census. The base map is © OpenStreetMap, CC-BY-SA. Each dot is 25 residents – red=Caucasian, blue=African-american, orange=Hispanic, and yellow=Other (there’s not much of this). I have shifted the background to black and blue for greater contrast.

Racial distribution in Miami is less homogeneous than I would have expected, as shown by the accompanying map. Miami has the highest population of foreign-born residents of any city world-wide (59% in 2004, followed by Toronto, Canada with 50%), but is considered more of a multicultural mosaic than a melting pot; ethnic populations tend to congregate and retain to varying degrees their cultural traits.

The overall culture of Miami is heavily influenced by the large Hispanic population and Caribbean islanders. More than 70% of Miami’s residents over 5 years of age in the 2010 census spoke only Spanish at home, and Miami has the highest proportion of residents who speak languages other than English in the home of all US Cities (74.55% in 2000). Because of the migration of English-speakers out of the state, those percentages are expected both to have risen and to continue to rise, though recent improvements in Cuba-US relations will have an impact that has not yet been assessed.

However, cultural amalgamation has been taking place in the culinary domain, which has blended general American cuisine with strong influences from the Caribbean and Latin America to produce a unique Southern Florida style known as Floribbean Cuisine.

Fifteen miles (24 km) off the coast, the Gulf Stream warms the ocean, producing a climate that is warm and mild all year round. In terms of latitude, Miami is almost 26° North of the equator, which is very comparable to Brisbane’s almost 27.5°S. Officially, Miami has a tropical monsoon climate with a marked dry season in the winter. Winter temperatures generally range between highs of 73-80°F (23-27°C) and lows of 60-63°F (15.6-17.2°C).

However, periodic cold fronts in the course of the season bring cool air which settles over the city and produces much of the rainfall in this time of year; on average, 10-15 nights will experience lows below 50°F (10°C) following the passage of cold fronts.

The coldest temperature ever recorded in Miami is 27°F (-2.8°C) (Feb 3, 1917). Miami has never officially recorded snowfall since records have been kept, but snow flurries fell in some areas on January 19, 1977. There are also anecdotal accounts of flurries that lasted several hours before melting back in February 1899.

Hurricane Season is officially over at the start of Winter, but storms can strike later than the November 30 end-date. Miami experiences more thunderstorms than most US cities, with thunder reported, on average, 80 times a year. These storms are often strong with frequent lightning and very heavy rain; occasionally, they can be severe with damaging winds and large hail. Tornadoes and Waterspouts are also occasionally reported. I have no times of year for these occurrences, but assuming that hurricanes are excluded, it seems most probable that the November and March-April intermediate years are more susceptible.

As usual, though, once you start looking at the finer details, some of those generalizations become obscured (Summer in Miami is especially affected by this).

November is very clearly a transitional month between seasons; it’s temperatures are almost exactly mid-way between those of October (Autumn) and December (Winter). January is slightly colder than either December or February. March and April are, once again, transitional months, with March trending closer to Winter and April being warmer than November by a couple of degrees.

December has slightly more rainy days than January, which in turn has slightly more than February, but the rainfall is clearly monsoonal in pattern; the number of wet days in November is only one higher than those of December, and while the number increases from February to March ever so slightly, it drops to an even lower average in April. Overall, throughout the season, 6.5-7 rainy days will be experienced.

However, the average rainfall received declines from December through January but then begins to increase slightly with each passing month, so even though the number of rainy days may be low, the intensity of precipitation when it does tends to increase, or the rain tends to last longer when it does happen.

It’s worth observing that the southern tip of Florida, which includes Miami, has a very different climate to the majority of the state, which is considered subtropical.

During El Nino periods, Miami becomes cooler than normal in winter with above-average precipitation, while in La Nina, it becomes warmer and drier than normal.

Miami’s winter has a notable ecological impact; the occasional low temperature extremes in January and February, are sufficient to kill several tropical species, opening the environment up to colonization by more northerly species. When the weather returns to normal, the tropical species can and sometimes do return; so the biodiversity of the region is in a constant state of flux.

Miami’s tropical weather permits outdoor activities all year, and the city has numerous marinas, rivers, bays, canals, and of course, the Atlantic Ocean; boating, sailing and fishing are popular activities. Biscayne Bay has numerous coral reefs that make snorkeling and scuba diving popular. Zoo Miami is world-famous.

In recent years, Mayor Manny Diaz has led the city government to an ambitious stance in support of bicycling in Miami both for recreation and commuting. “Bike Miami” is a monthly event in which major streets in Downtown and Brickell are closed to automobiles but not to pedestrians or those riding bicycles. An extensive 20-year plan for the construction of bike routes and paths around the city was approved in 2009, and by law all future construction from that date must accommodate bike parking.

As a general rule, Spring is the peak tourist season for the region. Nevertheless, there are plenty of “winter” activities on offer:

  • Every Friday and Saturday in December (often with extra dates as well), hundreds of thousands of fairy lights illuminate the trees at Zoo Miami. This is known as the “Zoo Lights”, and it is one of the most popular attractions at the start of Winter.
  • This is also a popular time for Everglades Airboat Tours.
  • January is headlined by the Miami Jewish Film Festival, with almost 100 feature-length and short films screened at multiple venues throughout the city.
  • There is an annual Arts Festival at the University Of Florida’s Miami Campus in mid-January. This time of year also brings various themed exhibitions, fashion shows, and movie screenings on the sand of the beach; the 2017-18 theme is Art Deco. It isn’t clear from my research whether other years have different themes.
  • A week or so later, the Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden dedicates three days to it’s annual International Chocolate Festival. Activities include sample tastings, demonstrations, and lectures from some of the worlds leading chocolatiers. This is an event that appears to be growing in reputation and prestige.
  • The end of the month brings the richest horse race in the world (a US$16 million purse), the Pegasus World Cup, on the Saturday at Gulfstream Park, with a party atmosphere described as bordering on that a South Beach Nightclub.
  • That’s followed the next day by the Miami Marathon and Half Marathon.
  • The last Saturday of the month brings the quarterly “Keep Winter Park Beautiful Watershed Cleanup.
  • In mid-February the 5-day Miami International Boat Show rounds out the season’s attractions.

Of course, there are also numerous conferences and conventions taking advantage of the off-season discounts to take advantage of the winter sunshine.

And, if you want to get some idea of the retiree lifestyle, check out JAG Season 3 Episode 15, “Yesterday’s Heroes” which includes numerous such details, often in the background of scenes, occasionally more prominently. If you’d seen it, you would probably remember it; there is a prominent guest-star appearance by Ernest Borgnine.

And for more local color, and depending on when your game is set, Miami Vice and/or CSI Miami might be just what you need.

This montage includes the USS New Orleans passing the New Orleans CBD (note the old-style riverboats at the docks), Bourbon Street by Jon Sullivan, The French Quarter by Jan Kronsell, and Snow on a New Orleans Cablecar (1989) by A Murat Eren.

11. Winter In New Orleans

New Orleans seems to always be in one of four situations: Imminent Disaster, Disaster, Recovery, or the Good Times in between each trilogy. You almost need to treat the city as it was prior to Hurricane Katrina as a completely different entity to the one that is there now.

Katrina displaced 800,000 residents according to some reports. Think about that for a moment. Only 15 US cities have a higher population, according to the 2010 Census (the number might be as high as 17, now, according to official estimates). And that’s just the number who were forced out of their homes for an extended period of time.

In 2006, the population was 49% of what it had been prior to Katrina. By 2008, that was back up to about 74% according to census bureau estimates. By 2010, neighborhoods that had not been subjected to flooding were at or near pre-Katrina levels, but those that had been flooded were still only sluggishly recovering, if at all.

Looking at it another way, pre-Katrina, New Orleans was the 31st largest city in the US (2000 census); it is now the 49th, having fallen to the bottom end of the 300 largest cities immediately after the Hurricane struck.

Like many Australians, the situation when Hurricane Katrina struck reminded me of the devastation by Cyclone Tracy of the northern Australian city of Darwin over Christmas, 1974. That storm killed 65, caused AU$837 million in damage (1974 dollars, that’s more than 6.5 Billion today), and leveled 80% of the houses. Virtually the entire city was evacuated, and had to be rebuilt; many residents never returned. Some advocated moving the entire city to a new location. By 1978, much of the city had recovered and was able to house almost the same number of people as it had before the cyclone hit. That was less than four years – to rebuild in a remote location with traumatized citizens, to an entirely new building code, and despite several bungles along the way.

“Surely, no matter how badly the initial response by FEMA had been, a nation with the might and resources of the USA would not take anywhere near so long to rebuild New Orleans,” ran the widespread expectation of those on the outside.

In Episode 3 of Series 9 of Top Gear, the show did a special – The Used American Car for $1000 Challenge – in which the presenters wanted to know if it was easier to buy a cheap car for a holiday rather than buy one. Their journey takes them from Miami to New Orleans, which they expected to have fully recovered by now – after all, Katrina had been more than a year ago. Instead, they found the city still devastated. The planned conclusion had been for the presenters to sell their cars to see how much they could get back of their initial $1000, but upon seeing the damage, they abandoned the challenge and gave the cars away, or tried to.

It was one thing to read that the recovery was proving difficult, quite another to see it.

The next media report of impact, internationally, was an episode of the Foo Fighters documentary series, Sonic Highways, in 2014. While much of the episode focused on the unique heritage of New Orleans, both culturally and musically, a sense emerged of a city that was integrating the damage into its collective culture and rediscovering its roots in the process. From the outside, life in New Orleans seemed to be returning not to normal, but to a new “normal” that had been shaped by the challenges of the city’s recent history.

That’s an impression sustained by the third major media appearance of the city outside of feature films – as the host location for NCIS: New Orleans, which actually premiered at about the same time as Sonic Highways. But it’s a significant part of the background that recovery from Katrina has not been equal in all neighborhoods.

So central to the reality of New Orleans is this state of affairs that simply to make the available photographic references relevant to my Zenith-3 campaign, which is based in New Orleans 2056, that I needed to throw another fictitious Hurricane at the city into the campaign’s background some ten years prior to the in-game date of play commencing.

Architecturally, New Orleans is what I would call “differentiated”. Several different parts of the city have unique styles that instantly identify them. Breaking these patterns down is beyond the scope of this article; suffice it to say that the architecture reflects the history, and needs specific research before New Orleans can be used as a template or setting.

The “America” section of the Wikipedia page on French Architecture is a start, but your next stop after absorbing that information should be the Buildings and architecture of New Orleans page, which doesn’t appear to have a link from the main New Orleans page for some reason.

New Orleans is split by the Mississippi River, with both the French Quarter and CBD on the northern side of the river. The CBD is home to skyscrapers that could belong to any metropolis; but the rest of the city is far more distinctive. Wikipedia has a separate article on the French Quarter as well as articles on many of the other districts that can be accessed from links on that page. Ironically, the iconic balconies of the French Quarter that are so recognizable these days were copied from Spanish architecture and then given a trademark stylistic French twist.

That’s actually a reasonably good motif for the city as a whole – selective integration of an outside cultural element which is then modified in style to integrate it with the base culture of the region.

Readers wanting to use New Orleans as a model or setting should also have a link to Wikipedia’s Neighborhoods in New Orleans page. While this page is little more than a collection of links to other pages, and doesn’t even have a map of the city’s districts to which it refers, it is nevertheless a vitally-useful resource that I have employed a number of times.

Geographically, one of the challenges that the city poses is that of determining whether an image is showing the river or Lake Pontchartrain; that 630-square-mile body of water lies to the North of New Orleans, and home to the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, which is the longest straight bridge over water, world-wide. In fact, New Orleans started as a Native American portage site between the lake and the river.

The lake is a key geographic feature in terms of its influence over the climate. During a hurricane, wind can push water into the lake from the Gulf Of Mexico, and from there, it spills into New Orleans.

A hurricane in 1947 flooded much of Metairie, a CDP that forms a major part of the New Orleans Metropolitan Area, much of which is slightly below sea level due to land subsidence after marshland was drained. After the storm, hurricane-protection levees were built along Lake Pontchartrain’s south shore to protect New Orleans and nearby communities. A storm surge of 10 feet (3.0 m) from Hurricane Betsy overwhelmed some levees in eastern New Orleans in 1965, while storm surge funneled in by the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet Canal and a levee failure flooded most of the Lower 9th Ward. After this the levees encircling the city and outlying parishes were raised to heights of 14 to 23 feet (4.3 to 7.0 m). Due to cost concerns, the levees were built to protect against only a Category 3 hurricane; however, some of the levees initially withstood the Category 5 storm surge of Hurricane Katrina (August 2005), and post-Katrina investigation showed that they had not actually failed to withstand the storm but had in fact failed due to faulty design, inadequate construction, or some combination of the two.

It’s noteworthy that while repairs have been carried out post-Katrina, any design/construction deficiencies remain, and funding is not available to strengthen the levees; the devastation of Hurricane Katrina will eventually strike again should this not change. This adds to the credibility of my creation of “Hurricane Landau” in the Zenith-3 campaign, which I referred to earlier. In fact, redevelopment of the Pines Village area and attempts to extend the CBD eastward of the Industrial Canal has produced the skyscraper that is the teams Headquarters – again a case of art imitating life, as this district was “significantly impacted” by Katrina, with more than 90% of residential properties as well as nearly all commercial properties in the neighborhood received flood damage, wind damage, or both. So it seemed credible that it could happen again. The pressure for growth of the CBD and the absence of viable alternative directions – the Lake lies to the north, the River to the south, and the tourist/cultural/protected French Quarter to the west – it seemed likely that this residential district would be rezoned and re-imagined. This is a good example of how existing reality can be extrapolated to obtain a credible adventure setting.

Which brings me to the climate. This is information that I’ve been meaning to research for quite some time for use in that campaign, so it’s important for me to get it right – and to use what I need for this to set the standards for climate reports for everywhere else!

To start with, Wikipedia has climate data for two locations: the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, which is the default shown by the site, and Audubon Park in New Orleans. The former is actually about 11 miles west of downtown Los Angeles, and its weather is representative of the “Uptown” region of the city, while the latter is 6 miles west of the CBD. If both were equal in levels of detail, I would unhesitatingly choose the Park as the basis of this part of the article; they aren’t. It follows, based on my local experience here in Sydney, that the weather information available is only going to be generally accurate for most of the city.

Technically, the climate is considered to be “Humid Subtropical” with ‘short, mild, winters’ and ‘hot, humid, summers’. This is a summation that falls short of reality. One nickname for the city is “The Steamy City” – and they aren’t just talking about amorousness in the French Quarter!

Winters are cold in New Orleans and run from December to February, though they can start early and linger for a month, especially in terms of night-time minimums. Days can be warm-to-hot even in winter, however (only the degree varies), and the humidity is around the 75% mark (±3%) all year round.

In December, the typical high is almost 65°F (18°C), and the average of the hottest temperature of the month for the last 30 years is almost 80°F (26.5°C). The record high is four degrees F hotter again.

In January, those numbers are less comfortable: 62.1°F (16.7°C) is the typical high during the month, the average of the hottest temperature for the month is 77.2°F (25.1°C), and the record is 83°F (28°C).

Daytime Temperatures warm noticeably, even if just a little, in February. The typical high is 65.4°F (18.6°C). The 30-year average of the monthly high is 78.9°F (26.1°C), which at the usual humidity levels is warm enough to be just a little uncomfortable. The record high is 85°F (29°C), which is a warm day, anywhere!

At night, temperatures are far less temperate, and nightly lows can be thought of as extending Winter into both November and March. I haven’t done so, instead regarding those numbers as the cooler end of the seasonal transition, but a resident would probably feel differently. As with many places, warning of the oncoming Winter occurs at night, and its memory lingers after dark even after the days begin to warm up.

The normal daily low in December is just below 47°F (8.3°C), with at least one day in the month shivering at an average of just 29.6°F (-1.3°C) – which, of course, means that some years will be warmer than that and some colder. The record low for December is just 11°F (-12°C).

January is, unsurprisingly, cooler again. The average low is 44.7°F (7.1°C), and at least one day will usually experience temperatures on average of 27.6°F (-2.4°C) – which means the same thing in January as in December: some winters will be (relatively) mild, with temperatures that rarely drop below freezing for very long, while others will be bitterly cold. The record low for January is higher: 14°F (-10°C), which gives some indication of the degree of variation around those monthly minimums: 27.6-14=13.6° degrees of variation. Assuming something approaching a normal distribution (a dumbbell curve), you can guesstimate that somewhere between 1/2 and 1/3 of that difference is usually what is experienced – so the coldest night of the month will usually be 27.6°F±5.6°F.

February is noticeably slightly warmer at night than January, too. The average low is 48.0°F (8.9°C), with temperatures as low as 31.3°F (-0.4°C) or less being recorded at some point, most years. The record low is still a chilly 16°F (-9°C), indicating that there is slightly more variability about the nightly temperatures in this month.

On average, New Orleans experiences 8.1 days per winter where the high does not exceed 50°F (10°C), and 8 nights with freezing lows. The temperature rarely falls as low as 20°F (-7°C) but it has happened. A small amount of snow fell during the 2004 Christmas Eve Snowstorm and again on Christmas (December 25) when a combination of rain, sleet, and snow fell on the city, leaving some bridges icy. The New Year’s Eve 1963 snowstorm affected New Orleans and brought 4.5 inches (11 cm). Snow fell again on December 22, 1989, when most of the city received 1-2 inches (2.5-5.1 cm). The last significant snowfall in New Orleans was on the morning of December 11, 2008. That’s 4 times (counting 2004 as one) in 55 years, or an average of once every 13.75 years.

Winter receives noticeably fewer sunshine hours than any other time of year – 157.8, 153, and 161.5, respectively. Compare those numbers with the monthly average over the entire year of more than 220; in late Spring and early summer, the monthly averages peak at 275 or better. That’s a substantially greater average – by about 2 hours less a day – than can be accounted for from shorter days, indicating that cloud cover is far more common and substantial during the winter.

Rainfall patterns are also distinctly different within the four seasons. The easiest way to synopsize them is for the city to have two rainy seasons, one (summer) dramatically greater than the other (winter). Winter rainfall usually accompanies the passage of a cold front; the average number of rainy days in the winter months is 9.2, 9.3, and 8.8, respectively, but if you correct February to a theoretical 30.5 days, you actually get a comparative value of 9.5 rainy days per month. As a general rule of thumb, that’s a consistent 1 day in 3, slightly more in February than December, but the difference is the sort of trend that is only noticeable statistically; daily weather variations are more than enough to completely obliterate it in any given year.

The same distinct pattern appears when you look at the amount of rain received. In fact, if you except the month of June, the rainfall per rainy day average is remarkably consistent over the entire year. Winter falls average slightly heavier (0.6 inches / 15.2 mm) than Spring / Autumn (and most of Summer too) at 0.5 inches but once again annual variations would completely overwhelm this. It’s worth noting that Hurricane Katrina occurred in August, and so is included in that ‘remarkably consistent’ average!

Let’s talk about things to see and do during this season in New Orleans. If you want to avoid Mardi Gras crowds, December and January are considered the best time to visit the city. Note that some of the events listed below appear not to have been reinstated following Hurricane Katrina, but – given the propensities of the locals – that would seem to be but a matter of time.

That doesn’t mean that you would be in for a quiet time! It’s not true that there is a band on every corner – some are in basements, and many in pubs and clubs and the like. Music, especially gospel and Jazz, is everywhere. Frenchmen Street, where an entire block is lined with music clubs, helps raise the average.

On top of that you have the famous New Orleans Funeral processions – somber, mournful, and respectful on the way to the burial, a mobile street party on the way back. If you can play an instrument, you are expected to at least consider joining the ad-hock carnival, and anyone is welcome to participate in the festivities. Many people join in as the ‘party procession’ approaches them, stay for a city block or two, then drop out – quietly relinquishing their places to new arrivals doing exactly the same thing.

New Orleans residents will throw a parade or festival with just about any excuse, and it’s rare for a weekend not to contain at least one.

Once you have your head around the musical ubiquity, the next thing you need to understand is that parties rarely stay confined. It’s perfectly legal and socially acceptable to take a leisurely stroll with a cup of wine or a cold beer, and most venues can’t accommodate the number of patrons who gather, so they spill out onto the streets. This sort of culture will be very familiar to Australians of a certain vintage – before the wowsers began to clamp down.

In December the city is festooned with Christmas-themed decorations in every direction – up, down, left, right, and sideways. Child-friendly activities are commonplace during the season, from the Teddy Bear Tea with Santa at the Royal Sonesta to a festival of lights in City Park known as Celebration Under The Oaks, with rides, displays, wandering characters, stalls, music, and more. Then there is the Reindeer Run and Romp, a ‘marathon’ for kids down Canal Street, the main thoroughfare of the city. Participants receive t-shirts, antlers, and a bag of goodies.

There’s also an adult version held a little later in the month called the Running Of The Santas, which is actually part of a larger social activity in locations both American and International. The notion is that you run a bit, drink some alcohol, run some more, repeat. In Australia, we’d call it a pub crawl with added athletics. Live music and DJs are an essential part of the mix, and entrance fees are donated to charity.

Traditionally, this is also the time when it is most permissible to ‘get creative’ with traditional dishes like Gumbo, so food-wise the city can be an adventure that is perpetually reinventing itself. Also throughout the month, many restaurants serve 5-course “Reveillon Dinners”, a tradition that hearkens back to New Orleans’ time as a predominantly Catholic city and Creoles would end their Advent Fast with a huge celebratory late-night Christmas Eve dinner.

This is Oyster Season in New Orleans; while this romantic delicacy can be enjoyed year-round in the city, months that end in “R” are considered the best time for them.

Football is very popular in New Orleans and December is when the Saints are drawing to the end of their season, so it’s either a good time or an abysmally poor time to mention the subject to a local. Basketball is growing in popularity, with the local team being the Pelicans, and support is no less fervid.

Throughout the month, free classical and jazz music concerts are held many nights of the week in the St. Louis Cathedral in the heart of the French Quarter.

New Orleans has one of the oldest Jewish communities in the United States and during Hanukkah there is usually a full program of festivities such as concerts and other community events, attendance of which is open to all.

There is a tour (expensive) of some of the older homes in the Garden District of New Orleans, often the only opportunity that the public has to view these historical landmarks inside and out. This is a fundraising effort for the Preservation Resource Center of New Orleans.

New Years’ Eve sees small celebrations throughout the city but the entire French Quarter essentially erupts into one big party, with fireworks and the unique (and slightly mad) “dropping the baby” New Year’s countdown. Not a real baby, but some sort of confectionery version, as I understand it, which is lowered or dropped from the roof of the Jax Brewery, where the French Quarter meets the River.

January 6th is the traditional date for buying and consuming King Cakes from one of the many vendors who supply them – everyone from bakeries (who you would expect) to Cochon Butcher (who you would not) gets involved. And that is followed (on the 29th this year) by a King Cake Festival.

January also includes the Sugar Bowl, an annual college football game played in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, and the Anniversary of the conclusion of the Battle Of New Orleans pm January 18th. And February-March is the Mardi Gras, of which little more need be said – I’ll save THAT for the Spring section!.

Some activities are all-year around attractions. Magazine Street, for example, is a 6-mile strip of tiny boutiques, snazzy cafes, quirky shops and art galleries.

Bicycle tours are offered by several venues, often with a high-class meal provided as part of the package. Bikes are also popular modes of transport for locals.

There is a National World War II Museum, the Southern Food & Beverage Museum, the Backstreet Cultural Museum, the Audubon Nature Institute (which has a Zoo, an Aquarium, and an Insectarium), the Louisiana Children’s Museum, Blaine Kern’s Mardi Gras World, the Steamboats, the Whitney Plantation Museum, Swamp Tours, and the New Orleans Museum Of Art amongst other attractions.

Speaking of Swamp Tours, Alligators usually hibernate from October through March, depending on temperatures, so Winter is not the best time of year for this activity, but some people prefer it because the mosquitoes are also asleep. In particular, if you don’t want to use mechanical transport, this is the time of year for alternatives such as Kayaks.

This montage contains the map referred to in the text, which may be © 2018 The Ponderosa Stomp Foundation, and a photo of the Lake Martin area from Wikipedia Commons by ‘Pierre5018’.

But I do want to correct a common misconception before wrapping up this section. How far are the Swamps from New Orleans? Because the impression an outside often gets from media portrayals is that the area is right outside the city limits.

Well, for once, those portrayals are not far wrong.

There are four primary tracts of Swampland in Louisiana. The most commonly photographed appears to be the westernmost, around Lake Martin, which is 105 miles (170 km) to the West-North-West. The next most distant runs from close to the first almost all the way to New Orleans. The two remaining areas are a short distance west and south of New Orleans and immediately north of west and north of Lake Pontchartrain.

The accompanying map comes from the Ponderosa Stomp Foundation (a not-for-profit whose mission is celebrating the legacy, revitalizing the careers, and preserving the history of American music & musicians), is one of the few that I could find tagged as being legal for reuse (Wikipedia doesn’t have one). I have highlighted the swamp areas. And note that the cropping of the key was a feature of the source map.

Sources:

My Thanks to them all!

12. Winter In New York City

Image notes and credits in the accompanying sidebar.

    Montage Notes & Credits:

    1. NY Boroughs Map courtesy Quora;
    2. Manhattan Vs Long Island, based on LIRR map 1876 and edited by Mike;
    3. Districts Of Manhattan courtesy Quora (I did my best to clean up this over-compressed map because it was the clearest one I could find but there were two districts on the East Side coastline that I could not make out. One appears to start with a V and have the second word “City” as part of the name; the other is a little North of that, and appears to start with a P and be a word similar to “Passergy”. I also added the “Lower Manhattan” and “Lower West Side” region markers, so any errors in those are completely my responsibility);
    4. “Above Gotham” by Anthony Quintano;
    5. “Midtown Manhattan as seen from Weehawken, NJ” by Dmitry Avdeev;
    6. “Past Vs Present” by Joe Deylamipour, which highlights the Empire State Building as seen at sunset from the top of the Rockefeller building with the one world trade center in the background;
    7. “Park and 57th street Manhattan New York” by D Ramey Logan, highlighting the jagged/stepped construction technique that is common to many NYC buildings;
    8. “Liberty statue from below” by Derek Jensen (aka “Tysto”);
    9. “Gapstow Bridge, Central Park, New York,” public domain image, photographer unknown.

New York city is, if not the largest city in the world (in fact, it’s 27th on that list), almost certainly the most famous. That fame means that it’s also quite possibly the most nebulously-defined in the minds of those who have only ever heard of it.

In fact, what most people think of, when you say New York City is either Manhattan, or Long Island. So we should start with a little clarity of definition.

What Is New York?

According to Quora’s answer to the question, “…the City of Greater New York … consists of five Boroughs: Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island.” “Manhattan is an island (plus some outlying islets), as is Staten Island. Brooklyn and Queens are located on Long Island, which also includes two counties not part of New York City. The Bronx is part of the North American mainland” (Refer map 1 of the montage).

In fact, the vast majority of Long Island is not part of New York City, as shown by Map 2 of the montage.

Manhattan Island is further subdivided into a number of districts, some of them famous in their own right, such as Greenwich Village, and is home to a number of equally-famous specific locations and landmarks, such as Times Square and the Empire State Building. (Boroughs are called ‘Cities” here in Australia, while the ‘Districts’ are considered ‘Suburbs’). Don’t fret if the district map (Third item of the montage) is out-of-date, these are ‘common usage’ names that change dynamically as the city changes. Right now, there’s no area known as “Little Albania” to the best of my knowledge; but who knows what next week holds?

Right away, I’m sure that some readers are surprised that Manhattan and Long Island aren’t the same place, and that the Bronx is part of the mainland. How much variation is there in the weather between these Boroughs? I’m quite sure that it’s considerable; they are very distinct, geographically.

So far as this entry of the “Diversity Of Seasons” is concerned (and the same will hold true for “Spring”, “Summer”, and “Autumn” when they happen), “Winter In New York” will refer to the Weather in Manhattan, with such annotations as my research develops regarding the rest of the city.

The Geology of New York

Geologically, New York City is what happens when you take something resembling the Australian Mountains and add thousands of tons of glacial action. The peaks get ground into powder, which – when added to water and colonized by returning ground life when the glaciers recede – produces ripples of bedrock interspersed with depressions and grooves filled with softer earth and gravel.

There wasn’t a lot of room for this illustration but it’s just barely legible and you can click on the thumbnail for the full-sized original in a new tab.

This has a profound impact on the city’s construction – bedrock can support towers of almost unlimited height (other engineering restrictions dominate in determining just how tall you can go) while the softer ground not only requires deeper foundations for stability (adding to construction costs), but it limits the number of floors that can be supported.

Take a closer look at the aerial photo of the southern end of Manhattan, and – now that you know what to look for – you can actually SEE the ripples in the bedrock, amplified by the ease of construction of TALL high-rise buildings. There is one patch of them in the immediate foreground (Midtown) and then it all goes rather flat through Midtown South, Greenwich Village, Soho, Chinatown, etc only to rise again in Civic Center, White Hall, Ten Bridges, and Wall Street.

Some economists have disputed the relationship between the geology and the construction, finding that economic factors were more directly responsible for the locations of the taller skyscrapers. This finding ignores several facts, in my opinion:

  • first, it attempts to treat the causes in isolation without looking at interlinks between them (it has already been pointed out that construction cost for smaller structures is lower and for taller structures higher when the bedrock is farther below the surface);
  • second, it ignores the fact that even moderate structures generate a lot of capital for an area, i.e. there is a feedback loop involved (skyscrapers produce intensive business activity which produces the money for bigger skyscrapers, meaning that a small initial difference from the geology creates a self-fulfilling prophecy of taller structures);
  • third, it ignores the secondary feedback loop in which infrastructure investment follows the money and produces greater wealth in an area, again amplifying even a small initial difference due to the geology.
  • and finally, there is an element of “if you build it, they will come” self-fulfilling prophecy to the situations. First, there are competitive advantages to locating a business close to your rivals when your business naturally trades with those rivals, and disadvantages to being removed; that’s why financial “districts” tend to form in a great many cities even when they are initially more homogeneous. The same is true of civil administrations. This displaces unrelated businesses that don’t service the primary industry of the area, which not only creates space within the zone but makes it more economically viable for businesses within the same industry to move closer to their suppliers, i.e. into the forming ‘district’.

The economists findings are accurate in terms of the mechanisms that manifested the growth of the structures, but require the geological difference to ‘seed’ that growth.

This actually has a role to play in the climate experienced, as you will find out a little later in this section.

Winter Weather

At more than 40° north of the equator, New York is farther removed from that geographic reference point than Melbourne is. Officially, it’s considered a Humid Subtropical Climate, which might astonish those who have seen news footage of snow in the streets! It’s the northernmost city in North America to be so designated. The suburbs to the immediate north and west lie in the transitional zone between humid subtropical and humid continental climates. The city averages 234 days with at least some sunshine annually.

Winters are cold and damp, and prevailing wind patterns that blow offshore temper the moderating effects of the Atlantic Ocean; yet the Atlantic and the partial shielding from colder air by the Appalachians keep the city warmer in the winter than inland North American cities at similar or lesser latitudes such as Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and Indianapolis. The weather records clearly establish the Winter months as December, January, and February, with November and March significantly warmer than the Winter averages.

The average high temperature for each of the Winter months is 6.1°C (43°F), 3.5°C (38.3°F), and 5.3°C (41.6°F) respectively, but the average of the single highest temperatures each month is considerably warmer than that at 16.8°C (62.2°F), 15.3°C (59.6°F), and 15.9°C (60.7°F), respectively. That describes a situation in which winter days are occasionally cold but reasonably pleasant and sometimes bitterly cold. This impression is reinforced by the record highs for these months of 24°C (75°F), 22°C (72°F), and 24°C (75°F) again, respectively. Those are considerably warmer even than the typical summer minimums.

The average low temperatures of the winter months tells a slightly different story; Winter seems to linger at night through into March, whose minimums are only slightly warmer than those of February. The specifics are 0°C (32°F), -2.8°C (26.9°F), -1.7°C (28.9°F), and 1.8°C (35.2°F), respectively. The average of the coldest temperatures recorded each month further extends the reach of Winter; November’s values may be warmer than those of December, but the differences aren’t huge. The same is true of March. This seems indicative of sudden changes between the seasons – winter beginning with a cold snap and ending with the arrival of warmer air to begin the spring thaw. Such sudden changes can easily come early or later than the calendar indicates.

In terms of rainy days, Manhattan has a slightly-dryer season (August to November), but when you dig into it, the actual differences are minimal; The wettest month by this measure having 11.5 rainy days and the driest, 8.7 of them. A single shower on one day, five years in fourteen, is quite enough to account for the difference. If you look at the actual records, you will note that February appears to be a drier month, and it is – ever so slightly – until you add in snowy days; doing so makes this month the “wettest” of the year by some margin.

The same pattern of consistent rainfall holds true when you look at the amounts (again excluding snowfalls), with the rain being delivered by summer storms and showers ever so slightly heavier.

Snowy days therefore account for virtually all of the differences between the seasons, in terms of precipitation. These also give a good indication of the persistence of winter and the likelihood of it coming early in an acute form, so I will quote the full range of values: Nov 0.2, Dec 2.3, Jan 4.0, Feb 2.8, Mar 1.8, Apr 0.3 days. Correcting these to a hypothetical fortnightly value for each month gives Nov 0.09, Dec 1.04, Jan 1.81, Feb 1.39, Mar 0.81, Apr 0.14 days in fourteen.

What do these mean? Well, first, they show that winter is far more likely to linger than it is to come early – compare November with March, and October (no snow days) with April.

Second, those fortnightly values – what does 0.09 in 14 days mean, anyway? Well, if we assume that most of the time we’re talking a single snowy day and on rarer occasions, two, this can be used to work out how many years pass (on average) between such occurrences. 1 snowy day / (0.09 in 14) = once in 155.6 years. But we need to round that up to make room for two-snowy-days, so let’s say once in 175 years, or thereabouts. 1×14/175=0.08, so that leaves 0.01 to be accounted for. 2 snowy days / (0.01 in 14) = 2 in 1400 years = once in 700 years. The onset of winter is, therefore either quite remarkably reliable, or “winter weather” doesn’t really start until sometime in December, long after winter has officially started. If there’s a week either way in it, then it will usually commence by Dec 6 (leaving enough room for those rare November events); if two weeks either way, then Dec 13 is the date – and snow is not certain to have fallen on the city by Christmas, though it will have happened more often than not. My personal weather experience suggests that somewhere in between, but closer to the latter, is the most accurate interpretation. Call it December 10th on the average, and a twelve-day plus-or-minus. (To be more accurate, I would need daily statistics and those are not readily available).

The average snowfall per snowy day is also revealing. Nov: 4 cm (1.5”); Dec: 5.3 cm (2.09”); Jan: 4.45 cm (1.75”); Feb: 13 cm (3.29”); Mar: 5.5 cm (2.17”); and Apr: 5 cm (2”).

There is a PDF provided by the US weather bureau listing the biggest snowstorms (1 foot or more) recorded in Central Park from 1869 to the present (last updated Dec 26, 2017). All told, there have been 35 of them – none in November or April, Nine each in December and January, 13 in February, and 4 in March. Dividing the record snowfall for each month by the averages quoted above will give an indication as to the variability. Those records:

  • December 26-27 of 1947: 65.5 cm (25.8”);
  • January 22-24 of 2016: 69.8 cm (27.5”);
  • February 11-12 of 2006: 68.3 cm (26.9”);
  • March 12-14 of 1888: 52.34 cm (21”).

As it happens, those are also the four greatest falls on record. Doing the divisions:

  • December: 65.5/5.3=×12.264;
  • January: 69.8/4.45 =×15.685;
  • February: 68.3/13 = ×5.25;
  • March: 52.34/5.5 = ×9.516.

Because there always exists the possibility that a worse blizzard will eventually be recorded, any weather table for the area should exceed these values, and because the greater likelihood will be somewhere in the vicinity of the average, rolling 3-5 dice is going to be preferable. Since this is only one side of the possibility (the equal-and-opposite alternative being less snow than the average), we get:

  • December: 12.264×2=24.528=25 values. That’s an odd number, so we need an even number of dice. d10+3d6-3 gives the range of results required. a roll of 13 produces the average, each +1 above that giving +100%, each -1 below it giving -10% (starting at 100%); with results of 1-3 meaning effectively “no snow”.
  • January: 15.685×2=31.37=32 values. That’s an even number, so we need an odd number of dice, or to add a value for the “average” and an even number of dice – with the latter being the easier choice. So, 33 values: d10+2d8+2d6-4 works. A result of 17 gives the average, +100% for each +1 higher than that, and each -1 giving -4% (so that some snow always falls in the month).
  • February: 5.25×2=10.5=11 values. Lets double that so that we have some elbow room: 22 values. d12+2d6-2 works. A result of 11 gives the average snowfall; each +1 above that is +50%, each -1 below that is -5% (so there will be significant snow even on a result of 1).
  • March: 9.516×2=19.032= 20 values. As with January, adding an additional value for the “average” result and using an even number of dice is the easiest solution. 4d6-3 works, with 11 indicating the average snowfall; each +1 above that is +100%, each -1 below that is -12%, so results of 1-3 indicate “no snow”.
  • Where there is no data available, the easiest answer is to base an answer on the closest month with values known and increase the size of each die by 1 step (greater variability). So, November: d12+3d8-3 gives 33 results. The 17th result would normally indicate the average “4 cm per day” result. A maximum yields 2 days worth at this rate, or 8 cm of snow for the month. 0.2 snowy days in the month is 1 snowy day in 5 years, but we need room for the 2-days result, so that has to blow out to 1 year in 7. That means that 6/7 of the possible results should yield “no snow” – that’s 1-28. So we need to allocate meanings to 29, 30, 31, and 32. I’ll set 31 as indicating the 4cm average, 30 as 2 cm, 29 as 1cm, and 32 as 6cm.
  • I’ll leave April as an exercise for the reader, but it will be based on 4d8-3.

The size of buildings has a localized impact on the weather. First, hot air rises, so in winter, greater heating is required for lower floors than for upper floors unless thermal inefficiencies are so high that the heat has dissipated by the time it reaches the upper levels. That can mean that temperatures in some areas in the middle are too high in older buildings, and each will have hot spots and cold spots here and there. Of course, all this heated air has to eventually escape the building or still more energy be expended in pumping it back down for reheating. Modern construction generally means the latter.

Either way, some heat will escape through the roof of the building; each skyscraper is crowned with an invisible plume of heated air. Heated air is, of course, at a higher atmospheric pressure than the surrounding air, so there is a constant breeze outwards from the roof. It’s also a well-known fact that skyscrapers all generate updrafts around their outside walls, which tends to push that expanding plume of hot air upwards quite a bit. This can generate turbulence in the upper atmosphere, generating additional cloud, as well as locally raising the temperature above the dew point. This reduces rainfall downwind of the skyscraper just a little – but a great number of very tall structures in close confinement have a cumulative influence, creating a weather ‘shadow’ that is statistically noteworthy. The turbulence can also be the tipping point in the formation of storm clouds.

Another impact is that the mass of concrete and steel absorbs and retains heat from the sunlight, even in winter. They can remain significantly warmer than their surroundings for hours after sunset. Once they have cooled down, however, they can then absorb a great deal of heat that would otherwise have been received by buildings and terrain to the west and north-west of the building. This can make one side of the building hotter than the other in the mornings. This urban thermal ‘bloom’ thus exerts complex effects over the weather in the vicinity – not enough to alter the gross conditions forecast by the daily news, but more than enough to push conditions past critical thresholds – or prevent the crossing of such thresholds.

Poorly designed/maintained buildings can serve as chimneys, continually drawing in cooler air from the surrounding ground level, heating it, and drawing it up into the atmosphere. This can effectively lower the air pressure slightly in the vicinity, encouraging rain to fall more readily when temperatures were already close to the dew point.

The resulting micro-climates are complex and not readily subject to analysis because of the huge number of variables involved. While almost every city experiences these effects somewhat, New York is exceptional in terms of numbers of tall skyscrapers – and the presence of a large area that is NOT built up in the center of Manhattan Island (i.e. Central Park). As a result, New York experiences this situation more strongly than most cities. Some reports allege that the temperature in high-rise districts can be as much as 5°C (9°F) warmer than those of surrounding districts – and that without taking into account the impact of tall barriers on natural breezes and air currents, and the resulting wind chill effects in winter.

Winter Activities

Winter comprises some of the busiest event months of the city.

The first winter activity of the season is always the lighting of the Christmas Tree in the Rockefeller Center, which occurs late in November just after Thanksgiving (last year it was Nov 29th). The tree remains on display until the evening of January 7th.

Throughout December, there are special holiday-themed tours such as the Holiday Lights Tour.

Starting in early December is the annual Christmas Spectacular at the Radio City Music Hall. This show evolves year-on-year; the 2018 version had nutcrackers, dancing animals, flying presents, amazing special effects, and the world-famous Rockettes®. You can also take a tour and go behind the scenes at other times.

Another Christmas tradition is the New York City Ballet’s production of George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker®. Like the Christmas Spectacular, this evolves from year-to-year. Tickets to the show tend to be expensive, especially if not booked well in advance.

There’s a major congregation every year at Times Square to watch the Superbowl on the big screens.

All winter, you can ice-skate at the Rockefeller Center’s Ice Rink.

In January, you can skate for free in the Bank Of America Winter Village at Bryant Park. Skate rentals, sharpening, lessons, and lockers are available. The Winter Village itself is a collection of eateries and kiosks and a pop-up Restaurant.

You can also skate at the Wollman Rink in Central Park, weather permitting.

Nearby attractions include the Museum of Modern Art, the Lincoln Center, the American Natural History Museum, and the Metropolitan Museum Of Art.

Speaking of Ice Skating, the Hockey Season is about to get underway. For the last ten years that has meant the NHL Winter Classic, with a free pre-game Festival for Hockey fans.

The baseball season may be a distant memory, but you can still take the Yankee Stadium Classic Tour. In fact, since it will not be restricted the way you would expect during a playing season, there are some areas like the dugout and the field that are accessible at this time of the year that you otherwise couldn’t get to.

There are also other annual December festivals and events, such as the Apollo Theater’s Kwanzaa Celebration in the African-American part of town, Good Riddance Day at Times Square (just before the end of the year), featuring the Latin American tradition of burning dolls that represent the current year’s problems.

Of course, the New Years Eve celebrations at Times Square are world-famous. This web-page by Smart Destinations contains tips and practical advice to make that experience more satisfying and memorable. But it all kicks off at about 6PM with the raising of the ball, and if you want to see anything, you’ll want to be there in advance.

The next day is the date of the annual Coney Island Polar Bear’s New Year’s Day Swim when hundreds of New Yorkers jump into the frigid winter Atlantic Ocean to raise money for a non-profit Camp for sick Children.

Starting shortly into the New Year is the “Under The Radar” festival at the Public Theater, which features over a dozen performances by comedy troupes from all over the world. The Festival runs for about a week-and-a-half.

Overlapping it is the New York Botanical Garden’s Holiday Train Show which features miniature New York landmarks built out of living plants.

January 10-17 (or thereabouts) brings the Winter Jazzfest, an event that started as a one-day attraction and has grown into a week-long festival that features some of the biggest names in the genre. This is also the time-frame for the bi-Annual NYC Restaurant Week®, a promotional event in which 380 restaurants offer three-course deals (fixed menus) for lunch and dinner (the other one is around August each year) and the NYC Broadway Week. There is also a Hotel Week that offers discounted accommodations.

Early February (the 7th, this year) sees the Empire State Building Run-Up, a sprint to the top of the 86th floor of the iconic skyscraper. The fastest runners achieve this in 10 minutes (it takes the elevators less than a minute). Just before this event is the Superbowl, a key annual event for the many Sports Bars in the city as well as private and public parties all over the place.

Also around this time is the annual Dog Show at the Westminster Kennel Club, the Chinese New Year Firecracker Ceremony and Cultural Festival, and the Madison Street to Madison Avenue Lunar New Year celebration, a Festival of musical performances, family entertainments, and special discounts from local stores. Not to mention that this is when New York Fashion Week starts!

Those attractions all run down for about a week, which brings the calendar to Mardi Gras. New Orleans might be the most famous celebration of this event, but NYC has celebrations in various parts of the city, too.

Winter in New York encompasses Valentine’s Day and the public event of choice is the Cupid’s Undie Run – when participants strip down to their underwear and run a 1-mile dash to raise funds for the Children’s Tumor Foundation. The New York Planetarium often holds special Valentine’s Day events in the evening, and of course the many restaurants and eateries tend to be booked solid all day.

Sources:

You may have noticed that the length of several of the sections in this post have led me to rearrange it into 20 parts instead of 16. The good news is that doing so enables me to fit in those extra locations I was unsure of accommodating. It also means that completing the entry on New York City completes this part of the article. Tomorrow, I start Part 3 and Winter In Omaha!

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