🇺🇸 Chicago vs 🇺🇸 Waterbury

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.

Waterbury is Connecticut's most inland major city, sitting in a steep-sided valley of the Naugatuck River. This valley position creates cold air pooling in winter, making temperatures colder than the Sound coast. The valley also traps summer heat and humidity, making Waterbury one of the hotter spots in Connecticut during heat waves.