🇺🇸 Chicago vs 🇺🇸 San Jose

Humid continental — cold harsh winters, hot humid summers, severe storms

Chicago lives up to its Windy City nickname. Lake Michigan creates its own microclimate — cooler summers and heavier lake-effect snow in winter. Summers are warm but brief; winters are among the harshest of any major American city.

San Jose at the southern end of San Francisco Bay has a warm Mediterranean climate that is sunnier and warmer than the coast. The mountains to the east and west create a valley setting that warms significantly in summer. The Bay moderates extremes but San Jose sees more heat days than San Francisco and less coastal fog.