What would the climate be like if the Gulf of Mexico extended across Mexico? (tornadoes, snow)

[ral31]

What would the climate be like if the Gulf of Mexico extended across Mexico and connected with the Pacific Ocean?

I would think that precipitation would be significantly higher across much of the United States. The deserts of the Southwest likely wouldn't exist and there might even be areas of rainforest in the Southern Rockies. I'm not sure what kind of effect this would have on temperature, although I think that heat waves would probably be rarer. The east coast of the U.S. might stay about the same as it is now.

[green_mariner]

Originally Posted by RmafAlex

What would the climate be like if the Gulf of Mexico extended across Mexico and connected with the Pacific Ocean?

I would think that precipitation would be significantly higher across much of the United States. The deserts of the Southwest likely wouldn't exist and there might even be areas of rainforest in the Southern Rockies. I'm not sure what kind of effect this would have on temperature, although I think that heat waves would probably be rarer. The east coast of the U.S. might stay about the same as it is now.

There might even be far more snow in the northern Rockies, as well as more tornadoes.

[Karl Bonner]

I'm going to guess that the places we think of as the Desert Southwest would be mild warm temperate or subtropical coastal climates not unlike what San Diego has, except maybe warmer due to the ocean waters being warmer than coastal California. Summer heat waves wouldn't be as intense due to the Mexican landmass not being available as a heatsink - but I imagine summer dewpoints would be higher across the southern part of the Intermountain West, and more rainfall in all seasons. Basically there would likely be almost no deserts in North America except maybe up around northern Nevada and Utah, and southeastern Oregon.

Generally you'd see a gradual transition from Mediterranean to humid subtropical as you moved eastward along the southern coast of North America - with more and more rainfall in the summer months as you got closer to the Florida Peninsula.