Syracuse ranks among the worst cities for weather, report says

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Surprise, surprise: Syracuse has been ranked one of the worst cities in the United States for its weather, according to a new report from the financial website WalletHub.

The website ranked 600 of the largest cities in the U.S. based on two sets of weather conditions: one for “lovers of mild weather year-round and another for lovers of individual seasons.” The site used nine key weather measures like humidity, precipitation, and snowfall, as well as odds of poor and extreme weather.

Each city was assigned a percentile ranking, so a city with a value of 20 ranked in the top 20 percent of cities in a category.

Syracuse was ranked in the 100th percentile for mild weather, placing it among the five worst cities out of 600. And, the Salt City was ranked in the 99th percentile, or seventh worst of 600 cities, in the category of weather across the four seasons.

The rankings have a key financial and economic component, the report’s authors say.

“Most of us don’t consider the weather beyond how it dictates the clothes we put on our backs. But weather can affect more than just our outfits. It impacts our daily lives — and wallets — in often under-considered ways, ranging from total monthly energy bills and local infrastructure costs to commute times and insurance premiums. Even further, it can also affect our moods, productivity and earning potential,” the report stated.

“In the United States, routine weather events such as rain and colder-than-average temperatures can cost the economy as much as $485 billion annually,” WalletHub said.

A company called Evolution Finance launched WalletHub in February 2012 as “a one-stop destination for all the tools and information consumers and small business owners need to make better financial decisions and save money.” 

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