Average temperature in Oslo is colder than 90% of the planet - but average winter temperature in Oslo is a fairly normal winter temperature for nearly half the planet, especially for the more affluent parts of it. The hottest large city on Earth - Ahvaz, Iran - with a record high of 54C, still recorded a record low of -7C

It really isn't that cold https://weather-and-climate.com/average-monthly-Rainfall-Tem...

When comparing Norway's mean average temperature to the rest of the world, it is clear that it is significantly cooler.

[1] https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/hottest-c...

Yeah much of Norway is very cold, esp in the arctic circle - however very few people live there. In the South it isn't so cold.

This is like saying Canada is cold because Yellowknife, when in reality 90% of the population lives within 100 miles of the US border. Like yeah, we can still get a decently cold winter in southern Ontario, but it's not remotely comparable to the actual arctic, or even places like Saskatoon and Edmonton.

               Average Low (°C)          || Record Low (°C)
             | Dec  | Jan  | Feb  | Mar  || Dec   | Jan   | Feb   | Mar
    Oslo     | -3.9 | -4.7 | -4.7 | -2.1 || -19.7 | -20.5 | -20.7 | -16.9
    Toronto  | -3.1 | -6.7 | -5.6 | -1.9 || -30.0 | -32.8 | -31.7 | -26.7

The winter in Oslo starts earlier and lasts longer... but isn't as extreme as Toronto's winter.

The record low for Feb in Oslo (1991 - 2020 data) is -5.3°F. That's an average winter night for me. https://www.aos.wisc.edu/~sco/clim-history/stations/msn/msn-...

Another way of looking at this... heating degree days.

https://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weatherall-print.php3?s=... vs https://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weatherall-print.php3?s=...

Oslo has 6286.8 heating degree days. Toronto, Ontario has 7342.8.

Toronto is substantially colder than Oslo (edit...) when it comes to the extremes of weather.

(edit: correction) - Oslo's is https://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weatherall.php3?s=88410&...

which has the heating degree days as 7787.8 which is now comparable to Toronto.

Oslo is on the ocean. While the arctic ocean is cold, it's still water. If the air temperature drops below the temperature of the water, the ocean will release heat and warm up the air.

It is very difficult to get it colder than the water. Note also that Oslo is on a warm current - https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9b/Corrient... - the Norwegian current is a continuation of the Gulf Stream (compare the California current which is a cold one)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oslo

> Oslo has a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification: Dfb)[48] or, if the original Köppen winter threshold −3 °C (27 °F) is used, an oceanic climate (Cfb) in the 1991–2020 base period.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oceanic_climate

> Examples of oceanic climates are found in Glasgow, London, Bergen, Amsterdam, Dublin, Berlin, Hamburg, Vienna, Bilbao, Oviedo, Biarritz, A Coruña, Bayonne, Zürich, Copenhagen, Prague, Skagen, and Paris. With decreasing distance to the Mediterranean Sea, the oceanic climate of northwest Europe gradually changes to the subtropical dry-summer or Mediterranean climate of southern Europe

> The oceanic climate exists in an arc spreading across the north-western coast of North America from the Alaskan panhandle to northern California, in general the coastal areas of the Pacific Northwest. It includes the western parts of Washington and Oregon, the Alaskan panhandle, western portions of British Columbia, and north-western California.

Compare this to the continental climates.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minneapolis#Climate

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boulder,_Colorado#Climate

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Louis#Climate

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago#Climate (has the population of 1/2 of all of Norway)

With no large bodies of open water, the air temperature is not moderated by the release of heat from the water and can go further to extremes on both ends.