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I've always wanted to do the overnight thing at Mt. LeConte, but I hear the waiting list is over a year's long to do so.

There's a shelter (not the lodge) on Mt. LeConte that's similar to shelters on the Appalachian Trail. Reservations aren't accepted and the only thing you'll need is a backcountry permit, which is free. It's about a three hour, moderately difficult hike.

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Guest donaltopablo

To me, the big thing isn't how hot or how cold it gets. It's the length of time it stays either way. The peak summer weather is much better up north on the water than it is down here in the south. While 95 degrees with 75% humidity is a little rough, back in April and May when we were already enjoying mid 80s days down here, there were spots of the NE still experiencing rather cold weather. In fact, I recall very vividly last year being in Plymouth, MA in mid-may suffering through a 40 degree day. Down here, it was already in the 80s and had been so for sometime. However, there will be days during the winter here in Atlanta it will be in the single digits, not far from the low in the northeast. But again, the difference being that it is out of the ordinary for extreme lows like that to occur for more than a couple of days at a time.

Lastly, I do enjoy seasons and temperature changes. This is why I'm not a huge fan of the weather in Miami. Although sometimes it's an appealing thought, to me it's not enjoyable to have warm weather year round.

Personally, I much preferred the weather out west than I do in the deep south.

So if you want to know the difference for someone who enjoys the sunbelt with weather as a major concern, that's it. It's not the summer peaks, or the winter lows. It's the amount of time spent in the maximum either way. This is not to say that I believe Atlanta's weather is perfect for me either, but I will take Atlanta over Miami or Boston because the extremes do not last nearly as long. Warm most of the time, but enough that things change. Now if only we could get rid of the humidity....

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Is Mt LeConte in this photo? Looking at Knoxville's skyline - this looks like it may be toward the south too much, and that is Clingman's Dome instead? Or both? LOL

gall-knox-008.jpg

Oh, and Boston does not stay 40 degrees every day in May. It is generally 20 degrees warmer then that according to the stats.

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Guest donaltopablo

Oh, and Boston does not stay 40 degrees every day in May. It is generally 20 degrees warmer then that according to the stats.

Yes I know, as I mentioned the 40 degree day was in Plymouth, not Boston. But much of the region was at most 10-15 degrees warmer, including Boston. Still much cooler, much later in the year than here.

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Yes I know, as I mentioned the 40 degree day was in Plymouth, not Boston. But much of the region was at most 10-15 degrees warmer, including Boston. Still much cooler, much later in the year than here.

Southern New England rarely has any weather event that lasts longer than a few days. This winter we had a very extremely cold January, with one week that had highs barely getting out of the single digits. But that was extreme. It is possible for us to have snow as early as late October and as late as the 1st week of May. But most of our extreme cold and snowy weather is confined to January and February. However, any month during the winter it is not unheard of to have temperatures reaching toward 70 degrees.

Our weather is a constant battle between polar air moving down from Canada, and tropical air rushing up the Gulf Stream. Neither air mass predominates for very long at any given time. While the possibility for us to have cool and even cold weather takes up a much larger chunk of the calendar than in the south, it is not unusual for us to have warmer temps at times in mid winter than cities like D.C. or Atlanta.

For the largest portion of the year we are in spring or summer mode, 50s-60s, and that weather can last well into Decemeber, and begin as early as March.

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Cotuit - its been surprisingly cool here in TN for the past two summers I believe. Its still averaging the upper 80's every day, but its not nearly as bad as it has been.

The most recent 90-degree day in Pittsburgh: September 9, 2002.

(No, that is not a typo.)

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The most recent 90-degree day in Pittsburgh: September 9, 2002.

(No, that is not a typo.)

Yes, but that is really an anomoly. Last summer and this summer have been extraordinarily cold, rainy and overcast. At least the groundwater levels have been replenished. If this cold summer weather holds up for August and September... we are going to set a record in this region for 2 consecutive years without a 90 degree day. Normally, western PA gets a nice amount of 90 degree days in the summer... but this last 2 years have been very cold and wet.

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Yes, but that is really an anomoly. Last summer and this summer have been extraordinarily cold, rainy and overcast. At least the groundwater levels have been replenished. If this cold summer weather holds up for August and September... we are going to set a record in this region for 2 consecutive years without a 90 degree day. Normally, western PA gets a nice amount of 90 degree days in the summer... but this last 2 years have been very cold and wet.

Based on the way things are looking, it would not surprise me at all if Pittsburgh sets that record.

I don't think I believe in global warming anymore. According to the National Weather Service, Pittsburgh averages a 100-degree summer once every seven years, and a sub-90-degree summer once every 15 years. However, assuming Pittsburgh doesn't reach 90 degrees this summer, that'll make for not only consecutive sub-90 summers, but also three sub-90 summers in the past five years, and four sub-90 summers in the past 13 years. The summers of 1992, 2000, 2003 and 2004 will have all been sub-90 summers. (The last 100-degree summer in Pittsburgh: 1995.)

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Off topic, but that has little to do with "global warming". Global warming is really about climate change. Some places will be wetter and cooler, others will be warmer. A regional event occuring over a few months is not a good indicator of the global temperature.

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"South Carolina isn't booming in anything except tourism." And automobile technology. There's more to the place than Mrytle Beach.

It takes a Yankee to set the record for my state :)

SC has loads of everything going on- not just tourism. Not just Automotive technology.

SC is booming. Maybe not on the scale of Atlanta- but it is. The Greenvillle and Spartanburg Metros together top 1,000,000.

The Upstate of SC has the 5th worst sprawl in America. I realize thats nothing to brag about, but you dont have sprawl that bad if nothing is going on.

Charleston is the 3 largest port on the East Coast, and it is talking about expanding.

The Columbia area can't build schools fast enough. There are new projects announced almost monthly. Columbia has been steadily growing since Sherman's Urban Renewal in 1864. >Reconstruction<

SC might not have these massive numbers like the larger cities in America have, but don't be fooled, it is booming.

I don't know about Mississippi- but who cares- they stole our baseball team.

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