What is your temp threshold for wearing pants vs shorts when being outside?

[Roadgeekteen]

When you are outside walking or doing outdoor activities, when do you switch from pants to shorts and vice versa. For me, over 70 degrees F is always shorts, 60-70 is a mix of shorts and pants depending on the situation, while under 60 is always pants. For example, low of 64 and high of 85 I'm wearing shorts all day. High of 66 low of 40 when I have to be out in the morning, pants come on and I likely won't switch to shorts.

[LilianaUwU]

I don't wear shorts.

[Max Rockatansky]

pants come on and likely don't come off.

You probably should have thought over that last sentence more.

[Roadgeekteen]

pants come on and likely don't come off.

You probably should have thought over that last sentence more.

Uh thank you lol I can't believe I didn't catch that

[webny99]

pants come on and likely don't come off.

You probably should have thought over that last sentence more.

And here I was thinking that was very thoughtful...

[Roadgeekteen]

pants come on and likely don't come off.

You probably should have thought over that last sentence more.

And here I was thinking that was very thoughtful...

I mean that statement from me was true I guess...

[RZF]

A sunny 65F feels way warmer than a cloudy 65F. When the SoCal June Gloom hits in early May, I'm in a hoodie because it feels chilly. But on a sunny day with the same temperature (typical of our winters), I'm in a t-shirt and shorts. Funny how that works.

I also break out the pants/jacket combo on rainier winter days (roughly 5-10 days out of the year) and on winter nights. That's about it.

[Road Hog]

There's normally a brief spell in the fall where shorts and a sweater or hoodie is the way to go. We haven't broken the 80s yet, though. That is forecasted to change next week, finally.

[Sapphuby]

I'm always in pants and a short sleeved shirt. It just depends on if I decide the temperature outside deserves an unzipped coat, a zipped coat, or a coat and heated vest.

[Ted$8roadFan]

For me, it's roughly 65-70 degrees F.

[1995hoo]

It totally depends on conditions other than just the temperature, the most notable of them being the amount of sun and how windy it is; another factor will be what it is I'm doing outside. I may wear shorts and short sleeves when the temperature is in the upper 50s if it's sunny with few clouds and no wind. But then there are days like yesterday afternoon when it was in the low 60s, but the sun was low in the sky when I went out for a walk and there was a cool breeze blowing, such that I wore jeans and a light jacket. If I'm doing yardwork out front, I tend to get sweaty and I'm more likely to wear shorts, but if I'm doing yardwork out back, I'll probably wear an old pair of jeans even if it's 90° outside because if I don't I usually wind up with bug bites all over my legs.

Quick trips outside are different, of course. As I type this, it's 43° with no wind. But I'm going to be indoors for most of the day, so I'm wearing shorts and I have bare feet. When I went outside an hour ago to bring in the newspaper and the trash can (today is garbage day), I did not change to anything warmer because I was only going outside for a few minutes.

I've noticed lately the female weathermen seem to overhype the temperature in both directions. Anything less than 60° is apparently "cold" to them; anything over 80° is apparently now considered "hot." Both ridiculous, of course, but I guess they're probably told to hype things up to try to spur viewership.

[vdeane]

Above 70 I'm usually shorts/skirts exclusively outside of work.  Below 50 I'm usually pants, though I'll sometimes wear a skirt with tights in the 40s or 50s if I'm feeling cute rather than lazy (especially since high heeled ankle boots are some of the most aesthetically amazing footwear ever devised).  60s are a gray area, especially the lower 60s.  Often depending on whether it's, for example, a "warm 62" or a "cold 62", if you know what I mean.  I also tend to favor skirts a bit more over shorts in the 60s for some reason.  Probably because I strongly associate shorts with summer.

[JayhawkCO]

It totally depends on conditions other than just the temperature

Agreed. If I'm doing something very active, i.e. running or climbing a mountain, I'll be in shorts down to about 40°. Then it comes down to inside vs. outside, sunny vs. cloudy, and dry climate vs. humid climate. For example, sitting on a patio on a sunny day here in Colorado, and shorts are fine down to about 50°. The same thing on a cloudy day in Kansas City would be more like 70°.

[Jim]

Today's a good example of my increasing avoidance of long pants in spring and fall.  It was a frosty morning when I first went out at 7:30, and it's now just into the 50's this afternoon, all with a lot of sunshine.  I have been in and out all day and it's a perfect day for me to go in shorts and a sweatshirt.  I'll put on some jeans for the Union College hockey game tonight.  Even when it was 80 outside at game time for the first game 2 weeks ago (first ever at the new arena) and I never really considered changing into pants, the arena itself was (not surprisingly) pretty chilly and I would have been more comfortable in long pants.

[Flint1979]

I wear shorts a lot more than I wear pants and I live in Michigan so go figure.

[1995hoo]

....

Quick trips outside are different, of course. As I type this, it's 43° with no wind. But I'm going to be indoors for most of the day, so I'm wearing shorts and I have bare feet. When I went outside an hour ago to bring in the newspaper and the trash can (today is garbage day), I did not change to anything warmer because I was only going outside for a few minutes.

....

By midmorning I wound up putting on a pair of socks. My feet were just plain cold. It's up to 63° outside now, but when I went outside at lunchtime I concluded it's a cooler 63 due to the breeze.

[Amaury]

It's not something I really ever pay attention to nor do I have a set "schedule" or temperature to change. I just kind of change whenever. I've had summers where I wear heavy clothing and winters where I wear shorts. This year, for example, I switched from shorts to sweatpants about a month ago in mid-September and then on Sunday, I stopped wearing my sandals and started wearing shoes again. There is also no inside versus outside for me. It's always the same. And once I do change, it's consistent until the next change, such as when it starts warming up again or starts cooling down again. I also don't really do a lot, so a lot of times I'm also just in my pajamas/sleepwear, changing into jeans and a work shirt when I have to go to work.

Weather data, for reference, where you can also see September: https://weather.com/weather/monthly/l/f66f11b19366d7d6c9dbbf1b33e9d245ec36f9139ef269dbc3be56b2a43715eb

On another note, one thing that I've found interesting is the phenomenon that a temperature like 40 degrees Fahrenheit can feel so different depending on which way you're heading, at least with me. If it's going down to 40 degrees or around there, I will feel really cold. However, if we're in a cold snap, like it's in the single digits or even sub-zero temperatures, when it starts warming up again and it gets to about 40 degrees, it can feel pretty nice, even though it's the same temperature as when temperatures were trending down.

[1995hoo]

.... There is also no inside versus outside for me. It's always the same. ....

You never encounter the situation where it's warmer in the house than it is outside, or vice versa? (That was the situation for me yesterday. I was wearing shorts and short sleeves, and no socks, indoors because it was 72°, but when I went out for a walk at 4:45 PM it was 62° and breezy, so I changed into jeans and a light jacket after briefly stepping outside to check the weather.) Or do you simply not care about the difference because you just don't change?

We have not turned on the heat. I hope to push into November before I have to do so, but we'll see what happens over the next two weeks.

[Amaury]

I mean that my decision to switch from summer clothing to winter clothing or vice-versa is based on how it feels outside, and it also has nothing to do with what season it actually is. I kind of count summer-fall as one season and winter-spring as another season when it comes to clothing, as I don't really see there being "spring clothing" and "fall clothing." Let's say, for example, I switch from a tank top and shorts to sweatpants/jeans and a T-shirt when it starts consistently being 60 degrees or below outside. Even if it's still maintaining 70 degrees inside, I'm not going to wear summer clothing inside and winter clothing outside. I'll just wear winter clothing regardless until it starts warming up again.

Hope that makes sense.

[1995hoo]

I mean that my decision to switch from summer clothing to winter clothing or vice-versa is based on how it feels outside, and it also has nothing to do with what season it actually is. I kind of count summer-fall as one season and winter-spring as another season when it comes to clothing, as I don't really see there being "spring clothing" and "fall clothing." Let's say, for example, I switch from a tank top and shorts to sweatpants/jeans and a T-shirt when it starts consistently being 60 degrees or below outside. Even if inside, it still maintains 70 degrees, I'm not going to wear summer clothing inside and winter clothing outside. I'll just wear winter clothing regardless until it starts warming up again.

Hope that makes sense.

It does make sense, but I guess I was thinking of the situation implied by the words "when it starts consistently being 60 degrees or below outside." I was thinking about the interim period where some days are noticeable cooler and some are warmer. Just to give an example, my phone says it's 65° outside now, and yesterday at this time it was around 62°, but tomorrow it's forecast to be 72° and Sunday is projected to be 75°. Then 65 on Monday but 70 again on Tuesday, followed by three days in the 60s and then next weekend has essentially the same forecast as this one does.

So in other words, I just thought it seemed kind of remarkable that you would make what I guess I'd call a "hard changeover" when the weather doesn't necessarily do the same.