Latest Survey Results: What's The Weather? Summary

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Report on What's The Weather?

Smart girls decide for themselves™.

Who took the survey?

469 people responded to this survey. Most are girls (459), but a few boys (5) wrote in as well. The ages of respondents range from 6 to 21+ with the average age coming in at about 14. The majority are from the United States, but we also heard from people in various places across the globe including Darussalam, Indonesia, and Jamaica. (I have to confess that I had to look up Darussalam on the map. You really do learn something new every day!)

'Tis the season

When asked what their favorite season is, the largest number of respondents chose summer. Don't assume that this is because the weather is warm, though. Remember that temperatures vary depending on your location. Check out the pie chart below for an overview of the results.

Favorite season

Because seasons don't give a good idea of what type of weather SmartGirl users enjoy, we had to find out your ideal temperature. You said:

~Below 0 degrees: 11 people
~0-20 degrees: 37 people
~21-40 degrees: 104 people
~41-60 degrees: 71 people
~61-80 degrees: 173 people
~81-100 degrees: 50 people
~101+ degrees: 10 people

It's also important to know what the climate is like in the different places where you live so that we can have an idea of how the weather changes during the year from place to place. Most of the respondents have four seasons where they live (204), while many have two (121). Remember that there are some places that are only warm or cold during the whole year, too.

My kind of weather!

Below is a bar chart that shows the results from the question about your favorite type of weather. The majority of you said sunny, and when asked if you agree that "The perfect day is when the sun is shining and there isn't a cloud in the sky," you said:

~Strongly agree: 115
~Agree: 178
~Disagree: 88
~Strongly disagree: 31

Interestingly, the reactions to the statement that "The rain makes me depressed" show that a lot of people have learned to tolerate and perhaps even appreciate rainy days:

~Strongly agree: 29
~Agree: 105
~Disagree: 172
~Strongly disagree: 104

Favorite type of weather

Weather or not?

Only 72 of the people who responded have been in a tornado, 88 have been in a hurricane and 168 have been caught in a snow storm. That's a small amount when you consider that a total of 469 people took the survey.

Do you check the weather every day?
~Always: 63
~Sometimes: 299
~Never: 97

Are you afraid of lightning storms?
~Always: 52
~Sometimes: 215
~Never: 147

If there was 6 feet of snow outside your door, you would:
~Play indoors: 118
~Sleep: 78
~Have a snowball fight: 118
~Make an igloo: 25
~Be miserable because you hate snow: 13
~Sled: 59
~Other: 34

If it's raining outside, you are usually:
~Inside: 75
~Asleep: 36
~Outside: 82
~Anywhere, it's just like any other day: 202
~Other: 49

These are a few of my favorite things

Your favorite things to do in the winter are:
~Skiing: 23
~Sledding: 47
~Snowboarding: 19
~Snowball fights: 85
~Stay inside: 85
~Drink hot chocolate: 85
~Having a birthday: 67
~Other: 35

Your favorite things to do in the summer are:
~Tan: 53
~Getting in water: 133
~Hike: 10
~Going to the pool: 61
~Stay inside: 49
~Having a birthday: 34
~Camp: 65
~Other: 42

When it's warm outside, your favorite sports are:
~Baseball: 22
~Basketball: 37
~Volleyball: 53
~Waterskiing: 14
~Swimming: 168
~Soccer: 36
~Water polo: 6
~Tennis: 8
~None: 5
~Other: 43

When it's cold outside, your favorite sports are:
~Hockey: 36
~Skating: 179
~Skiing: 45
~Snowboarding: 39
~Ice fishing: 3
~Dog sledding: 21
~None: 25
~Sledding: 18
~Other: 37

What is your favorite cold weather clothing item?
~Hat: 34
~Scarf: 118
~Gloves: 47
~Snow pants: 11
~Jacket: 110
~Boots: 36
~Long underwear: 4
~Jeans: 7
~Sweater/sweatshirt: 20
~Other: 11
~None: 69

What do you like most about fall?
~Cool breeze: 125
~Leaves changing colors: 72
~Wearing sweaters: 37
~Halloween: 102
~My birthday: 41
~Going back to school: 37
~Other: 29

What do you like most about spring?
~Flowers blooming: 76
~Birds chirping: 19
~School's almost over: 99
~Warm weather clothes: 86
~My birthday: 66
~Sunshine: 45
~Other: 24

When you grow up, what type of climate would you like to live in?

	count	percent
growup	count	percent
warm	44	10.65
snow	18	4.36
seasons	171	41.4
muggy	6	1.45
nothumid	32	7.75
nosnow	13	3.15
rain	12	2.91
sunny	34	8.23
noaffect	52	12.59
other	31	7.51

Where is the warmest or coldest place that you have been?

Wow, SmartGirls are a well-traveled bunch! Opinions were divided about each weather extreme. There were lovers and haters of both. As always, we enjoyed reading your responses and wish there was space to share them all. Here are just a few of the many answers we received:

Hottest place
~"The warmest place I've ever been to was when I went on holiday to Fuerteventura, an island belonging to Spain off the west coast of Africa. We went there in July and it was HOT! They hadn't had any rain for, like, almost a year. There were hardly any trees and there were great big sand dunes like you see in the Sahara Desert. I loved it to begin with (I come from England where it is ALWAYS raining, so it was a nice change), but eventually you just got too hot and sweaty. It was too dry and I got very bad sunburn! (Beware, girls. Looking like a human-shaped tomato is not fun, and it hurts, so wear that sun lotion!)"

~"The warmest place I've been to is a small island on Guanica, Puerto Rico, also called "Gilligan's Island." The water is clear and you can see fish swim around you. I loved it very much."

~"France! Seriously, it was 100F and we had a storm like World War 3. But apart from that, no, I didn't like it. I LOVED it."

~"Alicante, Spain. Loved it! The hot Irish guy made it so much more enjoyable! *big grin*"

~"I'd have to say the warmest place I'd ever been was in Las Vegas, Nevada in the summer! It's so incredibly hot, and there's no escaping the heat! Never a cloud in the sky! I was miserable, ha ha. Especially how it was 96 degrees in Death Valley at 8pm!"

~"The warmest place I've been to is Texas! I was born in California and it is sunny every day! But Texas is hot and humid and has lots of bugs! I really, absolutely hate it!!!!!"

~"Probably Caloundra on the sunshine coast in Queensland, Australia. It's absolutely beautiful--great beaches, so warm. If you come from overseas to Australia, I highly recommend that you go to Caloundra. It's lovely."

Coldest place
~"The coldest place would have to be right here where I live, in Michigan. It gets pretty chilly around here in the winter time, and standing out waiting for the bus in the freezing cold weather is always a drag. But you get used to it. I actually like the cold weather better than the heat."

~"When I was 3, I went to Iceland. It was 0 degrees! It was sooo cold!"

~"I've been to Portland, Oregon. It is cold there. And yes, I loved it! Especially at Christmas time because you get to sit in front of the fireplace were it is warm while you open presents. And it is raining outside. I really LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!"

~"Connecticut, visiting with family. It was Christmas and we got blizzarded in for two days which was very scary because what if we ran out of food or electricity?! Plus, I was supposed to meet my boyfriend and couldn't, so it was very claustrophobic."

~"Probably Coronet Peak (I think that's how you spell it) in South Island, New Zealand which, apart from the fact that it was pretty, I kind of hated. I could NOT feel my face or hands AT ALL! "

~"My home, Ohio. I like the weather patterns, but I don't like Ohio itself because it's so boring."

~"Fairbanks, Alaska. One time it was 55 degrees below zero. I like cold, but not that cold because my parents wouldn't let me go outside except to feed the dogs."

~"England, in winter, in a tent. Seriously something you don't want to do. It's he**."

~"Poland. It was fabulous there! We had snowball fights every single day! We went sledding and ice skating and even skiing! I loved every minute of it! I love the snow even more now!!!!!!"

~"England. It was fun when there was snow and we had snowball fights and made snow elephants! (The hardest part is getting the ears to stick out properly without falling off, but otherwise they are the same as snowmen.)"

~"The coldest place I have ever been to is my house. My mom keeps the AC on all the time, sometimes even during the winter, and I really don't like that. I'm even freezing now as I'm typing!!!!!! BRRR!!!!! "

~"Winter in Nova Scotia, right where I live. My house is about 150 years old and it's always freezing in winter, especially upstairs. There isn't a heating duct up there! I hate being cold, but I do love to curl up in a blanket, so I'm somewhat neutral on the matter of whether I like it or not."

Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts with us!

Please remember that all web-based polls are not scientific because the pollsters cannot randomly select the respondents to participate in the surveys.