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Well I maintain that places in the western US like Boise and Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, Santa Fe, etc. would be far warmer in winter if they were closer to sea level instead of thousands of feet in elevation. St. George Ut, is much warmer in winter than places futher south in New Mexico due to elevation only. The bottom of the Grand Canyon is far warmer than the surrounding plateau at much higher elevation.
I agree with that, that doesn't really disagree with my point. What I was saying is that being on a plateau makes the western US somewhat warmer than you'd expect for its altitude, especially daytime and summer temperatures. I'm a bit less certain of that after comparing Salt Lake City with Yosemite.
Seems you're arguing with a wall since I never made the statement that my location is warmer than anywhere in Europe in the first place, so yep, agreed!
You said that compared to Western Europe at the same latitude, it is freezing here out west. I assumed you meant where you are, which is Pasadena. To which I replied there is no where in Western Europe to compare to at your latitude, and even without latitude in the equation, Pasadena is not freezing compared to Western Europe. More like the other way round.
I think three important factors come into play, one in the winter, and a different one in the summer.
First, the winter: I believe the biggest influence is the fact that large weather systems in the northern hemisphere typically move from west to east (due to he Coriolis effect and the rotation of the earth), and so that the much of the weather and air over the western US is coming off the Pacific Ocean. Because the ocean is warm in the winter, relative to air temperatures in the upper latitudes, air will be warmed as it moves down from the arctic over the ocean, and by the time it reaches the west coast is comparatively mild.
Compare this to the midwest and east coast. Air moving down from the arctic travels over land (thanks Canada!) the entire time, and thus lacks the warming influence of the pacific ocean, and can stay pretty frigid. I think that explains why places like North Dakota and Boston are much colder than Seattle and Vancouver. It also explains why places in Asia can much colder at the same latitude than similar places in Western Europe. In Asia, the arctic air has a straight shot over land to reach lower latitudes, while in Western Europe the air travels over relatively warm water before reaching land.
Then, in the summer, a separate phenomenon kicks in: high pressure that creates dry air, which in turn allows easy warming through solar radiation. The Pacific High is a large semi-permanent high pressure bubble that parks its self on the west coast all summer. High pressure air has less capacity to hold water, which often creates dry air. Dry air can warm faster (and cool faster) so that solar radiation in a place with dry air can heat the air to higher temperatures than humid air, where the water in the air sucks up much of the heat. Notice how Miami and Hawaii have never hit 100 degrees? It's because humid air must work REALLY hard to get that hot.
Moreover, and also important, the Pacific Ocean off the west coast is relatively cool in the summer, and thus does not evaporate nearly as much water as the warm waters off the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean (gulf stream). This also results in dry air, especially as the Pacific High spins clockwise and moves relatively dry air from over the Pacific onto the west coast. And, again, dry air can heat up much easier and faster than humid air, because water in humid air absorbs much of the heat. Compare this to the east coast and midwest, which is subjected to very humid air coming off the Gulf of Mexico and Gulf Stream in the Atlantic. This humid air is prevented from flowing toward the west coast because of the Rocky Mountains. Europe is also relatively humid due to warm waters flowing up from the Gulf Stream and the Mediterranean, both of which are much, much warmer than ocean waters off the West Coast of the US, at similar latitudes. Therefore, a key indicator for summer temperatures is the humidity. Places like Redding and Phoenix have dry air during the summer and thus can really heat up -- unlike places like Atlanta or Washington DC, or even Paris.
Another factor is the high altitude itself. The atmosphere thins out as it gets higher (it doesn't have the weight of all the air above it pushing it down). Thinner air not only has less capacity to hold water, but is farther away from the humid oceanic air, and thus is not influenced as much by the oceans (note those dry, moderated temps up in the higher elevations of Appalachia, sitting up above huggy and hot lowlands) . In other words, its dryer, and thus can heat up more quickly. This is why Salt Lake City and Sante Fe are hotter during the summer than other places at similar latitudes, but at lower altitudes and subjected to humid air coming off warm oceans.
Is the OP just comparing the western US to the eastern US, or the rest of the world at the same latitude? This Russian black sea city is warmer than anything in the western US:
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