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Houston would never get a high temperature of 0C.... But you are correct, they may get a minimum of 0C in January and the next couple of day could be up to 27C like in January 2012
Yes they can but it's extremely rare. Even Monterrey, Mexico at 25N has had a 0C high.
Europe is warm because of the Gulf Stream. Without the Gulf Stream, Europe would be an ice box. In fact, one danger of global warming is that cold water from the melting glaciers of Greenland could enter the Gulf Stream, cooling it down to the point that Arctic storms would affect Europe with its brutally cold weather. Britain, because it's an island, has a mild climate because the Atlantic Ocean moderates it. Western Europe has a relatively mild climate because it is not very far from the Atlantic Ocean and its arms such as the Mediterranean and Baltic Seas. On the other side of the Atlantic, Boston has cooler summers and milder winters than Chicago although Boston is slightly further north because of its location on the Atlantic coast whereas Chicago is inland.
New Zealand has a mild climate as well for its mid-latitude location because it's also an island country.
New Zealand isn't that warm for it's latitude. It's winters are a bit warmer , but still colder than Western Europe or PNW per latitude. The summers are cold for the latitude. That's quite different to the UK, which is relatively warmer in all seasons
It was a tongue in cheek comment to wavehunter, who was obviously trolling, So I sent one back to him.
Regarding sunshine wise, the two continents are fairly similar latitude for latitude, but Europe as a whole is definitely milder or would not feel as cold over the year if you compare the two.
Really, I like many climates in the US - some of the ones in California are great. My only gripe is with east coast so called subtropical climates that for me have cold winters for their latitude. At 43N you have freezing winters in the US compared to mild winters in Europe - that is just my personal opinion, and I am not trying to force my opinion on anyone else. Obviously I know the reasons for this, but I don't like these climates for this reason, as even places down to 30N in the US get freezing and have lower recorded temperatures than we have... but again that is not a generalization, that is just fact, and is why I am stating it with regards to my preferences of mild winters and warm/hot summers.
Oh c'mon, I think you enjoy baiting people over here (at least the warm weather fans) almost as much as Wavehunter. You tongue in cheek state that our trees have leaves for three months, or you act very surprised our trees turn color before the heat island of London. Guess what? In September there are already a few spots of color on trees here in my area. Dropping temps play more of a part than the "actual" temps.
My September avg high/low this past month of 79/62F would be considered a very warm summer month in London. So drop the idea that somehow because your trees are green you have warmer Fall weather. Your Oct mean is cooler than here. From May to September here would be considered summer where you are.
Have you ever even been here in winter to know which would feel milder? You need to travel more. The sun to me in London was useless in January. I felt some mild warmth that didn't last more than an hour or so before the sun was barely back down hovering near the horizon. It didn't really warm me up at all like our sun does in winter on really cold days. And that is when the sun was actually shining which wasn't very often for the 10 days I was there in the month of January. When I returned home the sun angle in the sky felt euphoric to me. I remember that.
You keep going on as if all of Europe has these mild winters, always with the caveat that it is warm "for the latitude". So? That doesn't change the temps. Berlin? Warsaw? Bucharest? Sofia? Prague? Zagreb? Milan? etc. etc. My city is warmer in winter than all of them, save Milan by a very small amount. Baltimore is warmer than Milan.
The US is far lower in latitude than Europe. So yeah, 40N in the US has freezing winters with very warm summers and in Europe 40N has mild winters and warm summers. 40N and lower in Europe is the warmest part; a very small part of Europe as a whole lies at 40N and below. And the western edge of NW Europe with the oceanic climate is warmer in winter, though I would never call it "warm" as in subtropical, and summers are cool. And then the eastern part of Europe has large areas colder than where I live in winter, and warmish summers imo, though not as warm as here.
And as if those record low temps would impact the climate of the place if they don't happen for another 50-100 years. When London December 2010 is brought up, or 1963 winter, you claim it will probably never happen again in a lifetime. Well the same could be said for record cold temps in the US. They really aren't relative to what a person would experience year in and year out for years on end.
You can claim all you want that southeast US places like Savannah are "so called subtropical". The winter averages and what can grow there prove it is subtropical.
Yes, this area north of 30N on the Georgia coast has seen record lows colder than London or the south of the UK. And?
I'll wait now for you to post pics of large orange trees, bougainvillea, all these kinds of palms, fruiting bananas, etc. growing in the UK. Since the UK has warmer record lows they should be able to grow all this and more.
Let's just start with the mean annual temperature:
Helsinki = 5.90C/42.62F
Cordova, Alaska (60.6N) = 5.94C/42.70F
That was easy!
Luckily Helsinki is warmer when it matters, eg the 6-7 warmest months of the year. Still, Pacific BC and Alaska are just a thin strip of a vast continent.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chicagogeorge
Yeah, I was just looking at the average highs. Many of us are mainly concerned with maximum temps especially in the summer months
I assume the means would be lower than Western Europe, but I wonder if the means would much different in more continental Eastern Europe? Say Ukraine, Belarus or in Russia? I imagine Canadian stations would be at a disadvantage even there because they are located in higher elevation for the most part...
Would you want to enjoy your vodka on the patio during a 18C Helsinki evening or a 9C Fairbanks evening?
I assume that the variation in temps is much higher in Fairbanks than Helsinki. Might be 33C one day and 13C a couple days later.
Russia, though inland, enjoys pretty balmy lows. Saratov, at 51N, has 16C Jun-Aug average lows. OTH, winter lows are -10C, 3C lower than my city's, though being 9 degrees more south.
The elevation point is true, and should be remembered. But it's not really an argument for disadvantage. It just is what it is, and Europe is generally much more low-lying.
I looked back at record low maximum temps and found that Houston International has seen 6 days when the temp was 32F/0C or lower since 1969 (POR).
Yeah, and five of them happened between 1978 and 1990, one of the coldest periods in 100 years in the eastern US. Palm growers have said it was the worst decade since the 1890's.
The average lowest maximum temp over the last 30 years for Houston Intl is Dec 43F, Jan 43F and Feb 46F. There has been 1 ice day in the last 16 years. That airport happens to be in one of the coldest spots and is 10 miles north of the city.
If you look at Hobby AP on the south side of the city, the last ice day was in 1990. Avg low max there is Dec 45, Jan 44, and Feb 47F.
Interesting article about what that period was like on New Orleans.
I began my horticultural career in 1980 when I was hired as an LSU AgCenter extension horticulturist in Orleans Parish. During the '80s, temperatures dipped down into the upper teens every few years in New Orleans. That chilly decade culminated in the catastrophic freeze of December 1989. Occurring just before Christmas that year, temperatures in New Orleans reached 11 degrees and stayed below freezing for three straight days.
In December 1989, temperatures in New Orleans reached 11 degrees and stayed below freezing for three straight days.In the midst of the freeze, I remember looking out a window at the snow and ice and actually shedding tears. I knew this freeze would destroy much of the unique beauty provided by our tropical plants, and it simply broke my heart.
There were dead palms everywhere. All but a few of the hardiest palms species were largely wiped out. Tropical plants were substantially eliminated from landscapes, although some of the hardier types with below ground parts, such as bulbs or rhizomes, managed to survive. Efforts at protecting tropicals were largely ineffective. It was simply too cold for too long for covering to help that much.
Luckily Helsinki is warmer when it matters, eg the 6-7 warmest months of the year. Still, Pacific BC and Alaska are just a thin strip of a vast continent.
Would you want to enjoy your vodka on the patio during a 18C Helsinki evening or a 9C Fairbanks evening?
I assume that the variation in temps is much higher in Fairbanks than Helsinki. Might be 33C one day and 13C a couple days later.
Russia, though inland, enjoys pretty balmy lows. Saratov, at 51N, has 16C Jun-Aug average lows. OTH, winter lows are -10C, 3C lower than my city's, though being 9 degrees more south.
The elevation point is true, and should be remembered. But it's not really an argument for disadvantage. It just is what it is, and Europe is generally much more low-lying.
Fairbanks is a lot further north than Helsinki, and it's extremely continental. I was there this past summer (I've been there lots). It's 1000 miles up river from the Ocean, and quite warm for its latitude, though not in winter. I was there fore Christmas a couple years back, and boy do you see the inversions in full force then! My father-in-law lives 200m up the hill from the airport, and he would tell me that he's 5 degrees cooler in the summer because of the elevation, but 5 degrees warmer in the winter. I was doubtful, and actually thought he was stretching things until I experienced winter fist hand. The thermometer in the car dropped 10 degrees F just going down the hill into Fairbanks. Was -25 at the top and -35 at the bottom. This is apparently typically for winter. This is why Fairbanks is both one of the hottest places (in summer) in Alaska and one of the coldest (winter) at the same time. Actually, it is the warmest in summer, and as cold as Barrow by November.
BTW, Fairbanks is only 0.8 degrees C cooler than Kelowna, BC in June, and Kelowna is one of the hottest cities in Canada and one of the best growing climates in Canada with lots of vineyards and orchards dotting the landscape.
^^ What you have to realize though and I've come to realize myself is those very low temperatures are fleeting and occur very rarely. If a place like Houston or New Orleans gets an extreme cold blast in winter and gets a high temperature of 0C, a week later they can be easily be back up to 25C, something that would be impossible in a place like London even if they never got a single ice day. I don't like the high standard deviation of SE US climates myself but I think you are underestimating how warm at times this area can get in the winter.
Oh yes I understand that, I would definitely rather have their winters than ours! Just that if I was to live somewhere at 30N, it probably would be somewhere that never got cold and had a low SD
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Still, Pacific BC and Alaska are just a thin strip of a vast continent.
