Originally Posted by
tjspiel
Winter is long enough here that I mentally break it into segments.
- Late November through December
- January
- February to Mid March
- Mid March ->
January gets it's own segment because it can be so brutally cold and I mostly ride in the dark. By February I'm starting to get some daylight on both ends of the commute and though we can get really cold weather in February too, the temps tend to moderate and the side roads start to thaw...
Usually by Mid March (or not long after) we've had at least one extended thaw where a lot of the snow melts. We may get major snow storms and cold weather after that but those come in between warmer stretches.
April is often a mixed bag. 70 or 80 one week, then snow the next but it's possible it won't snow at all.
The above is a pretty good description of the winter progression here in Boston, though the temperatures and snowfall are less brutal than in Minneapolis. I would add that the Christmas lights of late November through December along with the slightly higher temperatures, and some residual training effect from summer and fall make that segment enjoyable. The quick disappearance of Holiday lights in January further exacerbates the gloom.
Visits to Virginia and South Carolina in March and April have convinced me that Spring in Boston is about one month behind the South, particularly for an early morning commuter. I recently posted about April:
Originally Posted by
Tpcorr
It's supposed to approach 50 degrees today [2/22]...
Originally Posted by
Dudelsack
...The triumph of optimism over experience.
Originally Posted by
Jim from Boston
It’s supposed to be 50° here too, but the streets are wet and puddled with salty water. So I'll be riding my salt-encrusted, studded-tires-mounted, heavy beater mountain bike. Last year, the first year of ownership,
I vowed not to bring out my ultra carbon fiber road bike out until April at the earliest; experience trumps optimism, and optimism is on the run. 
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