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I can't believe how snowy New Mexico and Arizona are!
People forget about how mountainous these states are. The metropolitan Phoenix area is gets little to no snow, but the northern and eastern parts of Arizona are very snowy and mountainous. New Mexico has even higher mountains than Arizona and is even more snowy. Albuquerque does get its share of snow (though the intense sun melts it off quickly), and the capital Santa Fe is just a few miles away from a ski resort, so it gets plenty of snow. Northern New Mexico is justifiably famous for its powder skiing.
People forget about how mountainous these states are. The metropolitan Phoenix area is gets little to no snow, but the northern and eastern parts of Arizona are very snowy and mountainous. New Mexico has even higher mountains than Arizona and is even more snowy. Albuquerque does get its share of snow (though the intense sun melts it off quickly), and the capital Santa Fe is just a few miles away from a ski resort, so it gets plenty of snow. Northern New Mexico is justifiably famous for its powder skiing.
Agreed. Many people back east do not realize how mountainous the western states are. Places like New Mexico, Northern Arizona, and Nevada get quite a bit of snow. Even more so the farther north you go into places like Utah, Idaho, and Oregon, Washington, Montaha.
Click on the link below. This is a current map from today June 16th, 2011 of the snowfall coverage in the United States. Notice how much snow there is covering the rockies and the interior ranges of the intermountain west. The cascades and coastal ranges of the pacific northwest still have plenty of snow right now. Currently paradise at the 5,000 foot level on Rainier still has a good 151 inches on the ground.
I don't care what the map says - as a climate/weather buff all my life (44), I say Kentucky does NOT have a subtropical climate, it comes closer to having a modified continental climate. Maybe it's on the border b/t a continental and subtropical. Tampa is subtropical, NOT Kentucky.
Los Angeles
San Francisco
Phoenix
Atlanta
Miami
New Orleans
Houston
Dallas
Portland
Seattle
Redding
El Paso
Oklahoma City
St. Louis
Cincinnati
Nashville
Charleston, SC
DC
New York City
Richmond
Admittedly, though, I've been to only 8 of the cities listed, so I'm no expert.
I agree I think DC, Charleston ,Dallas, Houston, Atalanta, Miami, and New Orleans are subtropical. I am not sure why the OP put any of the other cities are on there.
Well according to the Koppen climate classification, the qualification for subtropical is that the coldest month has an average temperature of either 0C or -3C. Internationally they use the =3C value since that is persistant frost line while many US sources use the 0C value. Cities like St. Louis and New York are in between those values making it vary depending on what is used. (would be interesting if updated climate charts show them trending towards 0C)
that Koppen thingy is a crock
for me the sub-tropical zone would extend to 200 miles inland along the gulf thus including all of Fla and would stretch along the atlantic seaboard but no more than 100 miles inland and this all the way to cape Hatteras
the way I see it only Miami, Houston, New-Orleans and Charleston SC would make the cut
for me the sub-tropical zone would extend to 200 miles inland along the gulf thus including all of Fla and would stretch along the atlantic seaboard but no more than 100 miles inland and this all the way to cape Hatteras
the way I see it only Miami, Houston, New-Orleans and Charleston SC would make the cut
Depends on who is defining what subtropical is. There are multiple factors. Generally subtropical climates exist between 30 and 40 degrees north latitude. There are a number of other factors as well including but not limited to: types of plants that grow, length and humidity of summers.
Pretty much the entire southeastern United States is subtropical.
One thing that does seem to occur is the subtropical/continental climate line does seem to have a difference in terms of how long snow cover stays on the ground and what the typical image of winter in an area is.
One surprise with the Koppen system is while continental climate has divisions, subtropical does not. It doesn't deliniate between a city on the northern edge of the zone (which if going by the -3C definition is either St. Louis or New York) and a city like Tampa.
Depends on who is defining what subtropical is. There are multiple factors. Generally subtropical climates exist between 30 and 40 degrees north latitude.There are a number of other factors as well including but not limited to: types of plants that grow, length and humidity of summers.
Pretty much the entire southeastern United States is subtropical.
St. Louis is not in that zone. Not even according to that Koppen thingy. Just based on subtropical plants/trees alone, is evidence. They are not indigenous to that city, region or climate.
I'm in a sheltered valley with almost no wind, with a southern exposure in my backyard, in a very built up urban area (with black tarred flat roofed red brick rowhouses). Very often a wet snow melts right away here but not at my office in the suburbs, and definitely not at my parents house 70 miles north of here. I appear to be in a microclimate that's similar to cape girardeau, mo (it's actually warmer here in summer) which is on the border of humid subtropical. I have canna bulbs that survive the winter in the ground and a european palm. serious snow events are very rare down here, but will sometimes paralyze the area my parents live in.
It's very clear to me that most of the suburbs to the north and west are not as warm as the low lying old brick neighborhoods and some suburban areas directly south. Does that warrant a humid subtropical circle of parts of st. louis city and county, probably not, but something is different. st. louis was the 4th largest urban core at one point, so theres still a lot of warmed concrete and brick working on the very local climate, especially south of I-64 where there stereotypically strong midwestern winds are non-existant (hardly ever a breeze) and there is a potent urban heat island effect.
certainly humid subtropical isnt the right term for a lot of what it covers, and the classification seems unfit for vast swaths of north america where temperatures swing wildly through the seasons, to be sure.
Last edited by CoffeeAndBeer; 07-30-2011 at 09:10 PM..
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