A study from Kahneman and Schkade asked college students in the midwest and in California how happy they were. There was no material difference in the two groups. Interestingly though — when midwest students were asked to predict happiness levels of California students they mistakenly predicted that California students would be happier.

This is an example of the focusing illusion. ‣ The midwest students, when subconsciously made to consider differences in climates, overvalued it in their predictions about happiness.

In other words, if you are actively thinking about where you live in comparison to somewhere else then weather (climate) will affect your life satisfaction. But when we look at day to day mood and experiences of happiness there is no meaningful effect.

REFERENCE

Schkade, D. A., & Kahneman, D. (1998). Does Living in California Make People Happy? A Focusing Illusion in Judgments of Life Satisfaction. Psychological Science, 9(5), 340-346. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9280.00066