Why do the temperatures in arizona not change by much between winter and summer? (compensation)
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In most arizona cities, the high temperatures vary by 30 to 40 degrees fahrenheit between the coldest time and warmest time of the year. But in cities like Boston, Chicago, New York, it varies by more like 50F. Why so?
In most arizona cities, the high temperatures vary by 30 to 40 degrees fahrenheit between the coldest time and warmest time of the year. But in cities like Boston, Chicago, New York, it varies by more like 50F. Why so?
And in San Diego there's a 11-degree difference between daytimes highs winter and summer.
In Minneapolis it's a 60-degree difference between winter and summer.
In Winnipeg it's nearly a 70-degree.
I never found winters in Arizona to nearly as warm as they're purported to be. Mild, for summer, but definitely not "warm" in the same regard as winters in Florida.
When I lived in Scottsdale, I consistently wore a beanie and gloves on my 5:00am runs from December 1 - March 1. I even had to de-ice my car windows on some mornings.
I don't know about you, but I don't think that's much compensation for the hellishly hot summers, where high temps over 100 degrees are daily occurrences from May to September.
Arizona's weather statewide is moderated by its southerly location, regional topography, and location between the Pacific and Gulf of California. Generally, the farther south and closer to the coast you get, the less the temperature varies from winter to summer. If you look at other inland cities that are on the same latitude as major Arizona cities, you'll find similar temperature variations. Dallas comes to mind. Average high in the winter is in the 50s and the average high in the summer is in the 90s.
The short answer is "climate" but the longer answer is complex. One big factor is that closer to the equator ("south" in the U.S.) there's less impact from planetary tilt.
As you go away from the equator there's a much greater shift in length and angle of sunlight between winter and summer. In Tucson you get 14 hours of sunlight in summer and 11 in winter; in Anchorage it's more like 19 in summer and 5.5 in winter. Considering the sun's role in warming, that alone would account for quite a bit of why one changes a lot and one much less so.
There's more to it, and indeed more than I understand, but within the U.S. the Jet stream is a factor. The Jet stream tends to shift southward during the winter, and for states sitting north of it the bulk of their weather comes down from even farther north. So part of the reason its cold in Minneapolis is that on an average day they're getting second-hand weather passed down from Canada where it's even darker and colder still. South of the jet stream the weather will generally be either from the west off the pacific (temperate) or coming up from the south (warmer).
This is like asking why Florida's climate doesn't change.
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