CBS News Poll: Are Americans looking forward to winter's end?
With the official end of winter still weeks away, more than half of Americans will be glad when the time comes, according to a recent CBS News "Sunday Morning" Pulse Poll.
Only eight percent of those surveyed will miss Old Man Winter when he's gone, but 51 percent say they will be relieved once the winter of 2014 is over. Four in ten Americans don't care much either way.
As might be expected, views differ depending on geography. The Northeast and Midwest experienced a particularly cold and snowy winter this year, and more than six in 10 Americans in those areas (62 percent in the Northeast, 68 percent in the Midwest) say they will be relieved when the season's over. Most Southerners (52 percent) agree.
However, winter's end matters less to Americans in the West; just 26 percent will be relieved when winter is over. In fact, according to the poll, 14 percent of those living in the western part of the U.S. will say they will miss winter, the highest percentage of any region.
There are gender differences, too, with 58 percent of women saying they will be happy when winter 2014 is over, compared to 44 percent of men.
This poll was conducted by telephone from February 12-16, 2014 among 1,026 adults nationwide. Data collection was conducted on behalf of CBS News by Social Science Research Solutions of Media, Pa. Phone numbers were dialed from samples of both standard land-line and cell phones. The error due to sampling for results based on the entire sample could be plus or minus three percentage points. The error for subgroups may be higher. Interviews were conducted in English and Spanish. This poll release conforms to the Standards of Disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.