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Bolded is not true at all. Again, Phoenix, AZ where I live has a 2°C bigger winter/summer difference than Atlantic City (2°C-24°C in AC, 12°C-36°C here in PHX), but no one in their right mind would say Phoenix is Continental!
And second point, -3°C is the mean temp necessary for lasting snowpack, and AC's mean is above 0°C let alone above -3°C, so the ground doesn't even freeze.
As far as snow, Dallas and Atlanta get snow, but even I consider them Subtropical
You're right, but Phoenix has a desert climate which also characteristically has large differences in temperature between winter and summer above 30N.
Desert climates are a different type of subtropical climate, being dry it is normal for them to have high differences in temps between the cold and warm season.
NJ is not a desert climate, so to have such a large range between winter and summer shows that it has continental characteristics
A big range in temperatures between winter and summer suggests a continental climate
A small range in temperatures between summer and winter suggests a oceanic climate, but that doesn't disqualify many climates from being subtropical.
Every climate in the world can be regarded as either a type of Continental climate or a type of Oceanic climate, and subtropical climates can be either Continental, or Oceanic, in nature.
Continental in the northwest. Otherwise, subtropical with continental influences. With a coldest month above 0C, southern parts are clearly subtropical.
I'd say it's simply temperate. It has a mix of oceanic and continental influences, but isn't warm enough to be subtropical. It lacks eight months with mean temperatures above 10C or six months with mean maxes above 20C, both of which are necessary for me to consider a climate subtropical. Also, if we have a coldest month cutoff, 5-7C makes more since to me, because subtropical climates have generally mild winters.
Probably. But still you made it seem like having palm trees is the one thing that makes a climate subtropical, which is wrong.
Also, wouldn't surprise me if the extreme winter lows in a place like Raleigh or Atlanta isn't too different from AC. Of course, ATL and Raleigh get many more warmups as well.
Ability to sustain palms can be a good indicator that a climate is subtropical.
Imo none of NJ is really subtropical, southern tip, Cape May, comes close, but
no real palm trees there either, unless you include the few coconut palms "planted" along the
Beach that are replaced every year when they die in the fall
Even much farther south, Virginia Beach, is very borderline subtropical to me.
Ability to sustain palms can be a good indicator that a climate is subtropical.
It really depends on the Palm species. some are quite cold hardy(-20C), but also have the hardiness to resume growth after several months of no growth (cold dormancy isn't a feature of any palm species I'm aware of) So the survival of some species to survive in some climates can be more a feature of the plant's hardiness rather than the climates suitability.
An similar example would be cacti - my area can grow a range of truly drought tolerant ones, but not because the climate is suitable, but because the the plant can handle conditions very different to that in which they are evolved to - with rainfall at 3 metres plus in my area, the presence of cacti wouldn't indicate arid-ness as a feature of the climate.
It really depends on the Palm species. some are quite cold hardy(-20C), but also have the hardiness to resume growth after several months of no growth (cold dormancy isn't a feature of any palm species I'm aware of) So the survival of some species to survive in some climates can be more a feature of the plant's hardiness rather than the climates suitability.
An similar example would be cacti - my area can grow a range of truly drought tolerant ones, but not because the climate is suitable, but because the the plant can handle conditions very different to that in which they are evolved to - with rainfall at 3 metres plus in my area, the presence of cacti wouldn't indicate arid-ness as a feature of the climate.
Good points Joe.
But NJ shore has a tough time sustaining even super cold hardy Windmill Palms,
never mind all the exotic species your climate can sustain, at a similar latitude too.
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