Does winter weather give you the blues? Or are you the type who gets a little frisky when there’s a chill in the air?
Either way, you’re not alone.
Four in 10 Americans say the weather affects their mood, and winter by far is the season most likely to leave them feeling down.
Still, there are pleasures to be had amid the snow and ice.
Given the choice between grabbing an extra blanket or cozying up with someone special when it’s cold, most people choose snuggling over a Snuggie.
Some folks take things a lot further: 15 percent of Americans who were cooped up by the weather reported having more sex than usual. (Two-thirds reported no romantic uptick while trapped inside, and 15 percent reported having less sex than usual.)
These tidbits and more about the weather and romance come courtesy of an Associated Press-Weather Underground poll conducted Jan. 21-26, wrapping up just as yet another snowstorm was gearing up to clobber the Northeast.
Michael Loughnane, 58, of Fort Thomas, Ky., was among those who said his love life has been known to pick up when it’s cold outside.
He was among 8 percent of Americans who reported that winter weather left them feeling sexy. (Summer was the season most often selected.)
Mr. Loughnane said there are certain advantages to being bundled up when it’s cold: Some people just don’t look that great in shorts, after all.
As for the details of his wintertime sex life: “I’ll leave it to your imagination,” he said.
The poll found that spring gets the most frequent nod from those polled as the best time to fall in love, begin dating someone, meet someone new or get married.
Two-thirds of people find that shorts and bathing suits are easier on the eyes than sweaters, scarves and boots.
But it turns out that winter’s getting a bad rap as a bad time for romance: Among those in serious, committed relationships but not married, 29 percent said they began dating in winter, 26 percent in spring, 26 percent in fall and 19 percent in the summer.
Whatever their climatic preferences, people are just plain into the weather.
Two-thirds already had checked the weather on the day they were polled, and a quarter reported that they check the forecast multiple times a day.
Even Jessie Oettinger, who said the weather is always nice where she lives in Berkeley, Calif., reported that she checks the weather several times a week — mostly to see whether she needs an extra layer for cool mornings.
The 28-year-old college student said she noticed a big difference in her outlook when she moved to California from rainy Seattle, where she said the weather “makes life pretty depressing.”
“I just feel happier,” she said.
Among other findings of the poll:
• People in the Midwest and the Northeast are most likely to get depressed in the winter. Eighty-three percent of Midwesterners and 76 percent of Northeasterners found it a downer.
• A quarter of those surveyed have canceled a date because of the weather, and in the Northeast the figure rises to a third.
• Offered a choice of four seasonal romantic dates, 26 preferred a stroll through a blooming garden, 23 percent each chose a day at the beach or a long hike to look at changing leaves, and 4 percent chose ice skating and hot chocolate. About 24 percent stuck with a climate-controlled option: dinner and a movie, thank you.
Jeff Masters, director of meteorology for Weather Underground, an Internet weather site, said he hears all the time about the weather’s effects on mood: “It just gets mentally tiring to get endless winter, and on the flip side of that, people’s moods are enhanced by beautiful, sunny weather,” he said.
As for whether romance truly blooms in the spring, Mr. Masters said, he hasn’t seen any scientific data on the subject, but allows that it has worked for him.
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