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I don't see somewhere like Boston as being transitional though. It does have a warm summer, but don't see anything transitional about the winter. Vegetation is the best indication of transition.
Boston isn't Subtropical its Humid continental, I was refering to places that have a Subtropical climate like places further south like Washington,DC, Seoul, New orleans etc...
[quote=Patricius Maximus;27508172]I'm the same way myself. Subtropical to me has always had a connotation of tropical-like conditions in summer coupled with barely-there winters. I guess it depends on what type you're used to, and the closest Cfa zone to us is the American South.
I personally make an analogy to subarctic. Subarctic has a long, cold winter that's like the true arctic, and subtropical has a long, hot summer that's like the true tropics. Subarctic has a warm summer that differentiates it from the true arctic, and subtropical has a cool winter that differentiates it from the true tropics. And just as subtropical climates can get cold in winter, subarctic climates can get hot in summer, but in both of them it's short, fleeting, and/or rare.
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I've also seen people who say that there should be a "warm temperate" classification to separate from the "true subtropical". Personally, I believe that changing the subtropical word to warm temperate would get rid of that perception, and therefore no one would go crazy over places like New York City and the southern part of Boswash being called subtropical./quote]
Warm temperate just doesn't sound right to me; subtropical better describes a place that has long, hot summers that usually feature lows around 70F. My conception of "temperate" is basically an oceanic temperature profile, of mild winters and mild summers, and long, hot summers don't fit into that, any more than northern Sweden's long, cold winters fit into a cool temperate classification. Now, if you're using a broader definition of "temperate" to mean any midlatitude climate, like Trewartha uses in his classification, then it would fit. Which definition you use is really up to you. Strictly speaking there's no right or wrong answer, and in any case both terms describe the same thing.
If I understand correctly, "subtropical" simply means the average temperature (day+night/2) in the coldest month is at or above freezing. Which means, places that can get HUGE snowstorms, like, say, Washington, DC, are "subtropical".
Boston isn't Subtropical its Humid continental, I was refering to places that have a Subtropical climate like places further south like Washington,DC, Seoul, New orleans etc...
The only thing those places have in common, is a warm summer. New Orleans support vegetation that show a warmer climate overall. Seoul and Washington don't.
Boston isn't Subtropical its Humid continental, I was refering to places that have a Subtropical climate like places further south like Washington,DC, Seoul, New orleans etc...
How in the heck is Seoul subtropical? Philly is warmer than Seoul and we are not subtropical. Seoul is colder than Boston in December and January.
I don't see somewhere like Boston as being transitional though. It does have a warm summer, but don't see anything transitional about the winter. Vegetation is the best indication of transition.
Not 100% sure about Boston but a number of subtropical plants can grow in and around NYC that can't grow much farther north. For example American Holly, Crape Myrtle, Magnolia (virginiana), Dogwood. I've even seen some trunking palms along the beaches in New Jersey, though they might need some protection during cold snaps in the winter. Sure, you won't find lemon groves around here, but this is the northern end of the transition.
I personally have never viewed subtropical as actually tropical. From the first time I heard that word, I associated it with the U.S. South -- cool-to-mild winters and hot summers, the latter being the most important thing.
It seems based on these threads that my perception is the minority. Perhaps it's because of the word "tropical", but it seems people who see that word think of places that are very warm year-round instead of a place with a hot and long summer.
I've also seen people who say that there should be a "warm temperate" classification to separate from the "true subtropical". Personally, I believe that changing the subtropical word to warm temperate would get rid of that perception, and therefore no one would go crazy over places like New York City and the southern part of Boswash being called subtropical.
Your opinions?
I would not say that subtropical climates near the boundary between tropical are temperate.
I find the use of the term subtropical quite funny to describe the climate of Boston and NYC as subtropical as imo they are not one bit tropical at all. In the winter they get snow often and the sea temperatures are sub 10c.. that is not even remotely tropical. A person in Dubai would laugh at the classification of NYC as subtropical.
Yes, those terms are more to the tune of the climate of places like NYC.
Tropical= no.
I mean, Central florida does not have the same kind of climate as Washington DC.
Central Florida falls just short of being truly tropical, I don't know why it's seen as the archetype of Cfa, if anything it's just as much of an outlier as NYC/DC is.
How in the heck is Seoul subtropical? Philly is warmer than Seoul and we are not subtropical. Seoul is colder than Boston in December and January.
OK Calm got it wrong.
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