What if the Gulf Stream went farther north and rode along the New England coast? (climate, snowfall)

[BullochResident]

As we all know, the Gulf Stream has it's origins in the Gulf of Mexico, a large shallow body of water that heats up rapidly during the summer, giving way to the humid conditions found throughout most of the southern US. At the southeast end of the Gulf between Florida and Cuba, a current forms, and that current rides up the southeast coast until the North Carolina outer banks, when it jets out to sea toward Europe. North of there is the southern reach of the Labrador Current, a cold current from Canada that rides along the New England/Mid Atlantic coast.

Let's make a change, and say that the Labrador Current did not go as far south as it currently does. Instead, the warmer Gulf Stream continues to ride up along the immediate east coast until it hits Maine/Nova Scotia, then moves east towards Europe. With this change, what do you think would happen to the climate of New England?

Obviously, the summers up there would be hotter and more humid than they currently are, but what would happen to the other seasons? Would it be stormier up there? Would noreasters be even more powerful than they currently are? Would there be even greater seasonal lags? Discuss.

[jackierudetsky]

How about if the Gulf of Mexico were as hot as the Persian Gulf?

[Warszawa]

Thing is cities even to the south of the warm Gulf Stream current still have chilly winters for their latitude, just look at Raleigh and compare it with cities at a similar latitude in Argentina and Mediterannean, Raleigh's winters will stick out like a sore thumb. Altho I think the coastal areas would be much warmer, with Nantucket being more like something you'd find in Tasmania. I think springs especially would be much warmer in Boston and NYC, without the cold fronts coming off the cold water in April and May. On the downside, the humidity in the summer would be overwhelming. Imagine the humidity of Cape Hatteras which is on the northern boundary of the warm current, and stretch that humidity even farther north. Who wants 90f weather in the summer with 85% humidity? Not this guy, that's for sure

A positive could be that the climate would be more stable overall, I think the meeting point of the freezing cold Labrador current and the boiling Florida current are what makes eastern US into the most unstable region of the world. If the entire coast was just a cold current, or if it was just a warm current, then we could kiss those insane -20/-30c record lows goodbye

[ghost-likin]

Originally Posted by Warszawa

A positive could be that the climate would be more stable overall, I think the meeting point of the freezing cold Labrador current and the boiling Florida current are what makes eastern US into the most unstable region of the world. If the entire coast was just a cold current, or if it was just a warm current, then we could kiss those insane -20/-30c record lows goodbye

I would like to know why the Labrador current dont make the climate drier there,while here in South America the Malvinas current helps a lot to make the Patagonian desert.

[deneb78]

Originally Posted by ghost-likin

I would like to know why the Labrador current dont make the climate drier there,while here in South America the Malvinas current helps a lot to make the Patagonian desert.

Because of the Icelandic Low. It causes excessive snowfall on the Labrador coast.