Why is the southwest so warm.....?

[belmont22]

Yeah I think it has to do with the fact the South is open to Arctic fronts from the Hudson Bay.

Though some areas of the Southwest are quite cold ... like Flagstaff, and New Mexico is not as warm as most people think either.

[tenkier7]

Australian desert located in southwestern part of the country too!

[Ethereal]

I think the mountains on the West Coast stop the Eastern cold snaps from coming in.

[Fa-Foxy]

To Trimac, actually Phoenix is at 33.5 degrees north, not 33 degrees north. That half a degrees may sound inconsequential but believe me it's NOT !

I live at 33.00 degrees north, 111.51 degrees west ( 33.00, -111.51 for those who want to plug those digits into Google Earth or Google Maps).

And even though I'm only half a degree south of Phoenix, it's a LOT HOTTER and a LOT dryer here than Phoenix is ! I'm surrounded by farmland here too.