Eight Signs You Are All Too Familiar With New England Winters

It takes a special kind of person to live in New England. We are often thought of as tough and full of attitude, which isn’t far off, but you have to be when you live in a place like this.

We have to defend our beaches from tourists in the summertime and hold our own in the traffic that never seems to disappear. We get to enjoy four seasons and we know what to expect from each one, but when it comes to winter, this is when we really shine. This is when it becomes obvious that we’re cut from a different cloth, and it became abundantly clear to me when my in-laws recently visited from Florida.

They were cold for most of the visit and the temperature didn’t even drop below 50. This was odd to me because when I was growing up, we didn’t touch the thermostat until we see the mid-40s. It made me realize that we, as New Englanders, have grown so accustomed to the harsh winters that a drop in temperature rarely phases us from ditching our iced coffees and short-sleeved shirts.

With the arrival of January, we have just about reached the halfway point of the winter season. With the exception of a little blizzard, this winter has been fairly mild, but the temperatures continue to drop, and I have yet to see my fellow New Englanders break. During the winter, the amateurs of the area reach for their hand warmers and the veterans stick out like sore thumbs, fighting tooth-and-nail the change of the season.

Here is how you know you’re from New England when winter rolls around.