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Recently on the news there has been quite a lot of coverage in the small town of Midland City, AL (5 year old hostage). I couldn't help but notice how the area looked almost the same as my area around here. The grass looks brown/ green, and a lot of dead trees. This part of Alabama is around 80 miles inland from the coast.
I looked at the weather stats for the area and found this:
November avg high/low = 69/43F with lowest temp of 28F and two nights 32f or below for entire month
December " " = 65/44F with lowest temp of 28F and three nights 32f or below for month
January " " = 68/47F with lowest temp of 32F and two nights 32F or below for entire month
February " " = 62/36F with lowest temp of 32F on one night so far
My area has had a low of 12F, and has been much colder every month than this part of Alabama.
Anyone know why the area looks so much less subtropical than other subtropical locations around the world. New Zeland where Joe90 lives gets colder than 28F, yet his area looks much more evergreen.
Interesting. Lots of deciduous trees would help with that look, Plenty of deciduous trees here, but not en masse, apart from orchards or rivers (willows). The grass in the pic doesn't look to have been headed, which gives it that dry look, even if it's still growing underneath.
It could just be that particular day or the photo quality, but the sky doesn't have the bright blue look typical of winter and colours in general look a bit muted. Perhaps higher dewpoints give it that hazy look?
Interesting. Lots of deciduous trees would help with that look, Plenty of deciduous trees here, but not en masse, apart from orchards or rivers (willows). The grass in the pic doesn't look to have been headed, which gives it that dry look, even if it's still growing underneath.
It could just be that particular day or the photo quality, but the sky doesn't have the bright blue look typical of winter and colours in general look a bit muted.
It doesn't look subtropical to me. The weather stats I gave were for this year from nov 2012 to feb 2013. Only eight nights so far below 32f, and the lowest min of 28. Those temps seem very subtropical.
It doesn't look subtropical to me. The weather stats I gave were for this year from nov 2012 to feb 2013. Only eight nights so far below 32f, and the lowest min of 28. Those temps seem very subtropical.
You're right.
And that Alabama town is only about 25 miles north of the Florida state line at 31N
I notice in the photo they're all huddled around a propane heater
I agree, most of the US south, Texas to the Carolinas, areas inland from the coast don't look very subtropical at all. The native vegetation is mostly deciduous or pines.
Places at similar latitude in other parts of the world look much more subtropical.
Many more broadleaf evergreen trees, even places like northern Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Syria.
One reason might be that US south is prone to relatively severe cold shots,
record cold temps for example, Atlanta at 34N is colder than London at 51N
I think Alabama has far less pine trees than the US South Atlantic states.
Pines dominate much of the coastal landscape from southeastern Virginia all the way to north Florida.
You're right.
And that Alabama town is only about 25 miles north of the Florida state line at 31N
I notice in the photo they're all huddled around a propane heater
I agree, most of the US south, Texas to the Carolinas, areas inland from the coast don't look very subtropical at all. The native vegetation is mostly deciduous or pines.
Places at similar latitude in other parts of the world look much more subtropical.
Many more broadleaf evergreen trees, even places like northern Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Syria.
One reason might be that US south is prone to relatively severe cold shots,
record cold temps for example, Atlanta at 34N is colder than London at 51N
London isn't really warmer than Atlanta, it is just that London has warmer low temps.
The avg Jan min in London is 36F, while in Atlanta it is 34F. London avg monthly temp in Jan is around 41F, while Atlanta is 43F. However, Atlanta is in USDA zone 8a (lowest temp each winter between 10F-15F), while London is in zone 9a (lowest temp between 20F-25F).
I think though the diff is that the extreme lows each winter are about 10F colder in Atlanta.
But the pic I posted above is of an area that has been quite a bit warmer than anywhere in the UK with temps all winter in the 60's and an extreme min temp of 28F.
The grass is probably brown looking cause it is warm weather grass, but you also don't see any flowering plants around, or other signs of the subtropics.
It's probably the plant types that are endemic to North America as opposed to places like New Zealand or even most of Europe. You also have to keep in mind that the combination of dormant vegetation and no snow is the most surefire way for a place to look "dead" (in my opinion anyway).
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