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I think you are right for the most part when you look at Boston, Philadelphia and generally the eastern half of the US.
Gets more complicated as you head west in the US. For one thing you have to remember how high in elevation many parts of the US are compared to Europe. You just can't compare city to city without taking elevation into account.
For example, Bridgeport, Nebraska is at elevation 3,670ft, and has a yearly mean of 50.8F. The city is at 41.7N. Andorra la Vella in Spain is at elevation 3,356 at the same latitude and has yearly mean of 49.4. So, in that case looks like the Plains of the US are warmer than Spain.
Madrid is at elevation 2,277ft at latitude 40N with a yearly mean of 58.8F (airport 5 miles from city).
The lowest city in Utah, St. George, is at elevation 2,877ft at latitude 37N. Granada, Spain is at elevation 2421 at latitude 37N. St. George mean is 63.5F. Granada mean is 59.4F.
It is hard to find large cities in Europe at such high elevation and latitude 44N as say Rapid City, SD. Rapid City has yearly mean of 47.2F, is at elevation 3,200ft and 44N.
Denver is at 40N, has a yearly mean temp of 51F, but is at elevation over 5,500ft. Can you find a place in Europe at that elevation close to that latitude with a 51F mean. I don't know.
Boise, Idaho is at elevation 2822ft, latitude 43.6N, and has a yearly mean of 52F. That is warmer than Pristina in Kosovo at similar elevation, and warmer than Sarajevo.
Well there are always exceptions to the rule.
It seems like the higher parts of the us west are a bit warmer than comparable parts in Europe, but we don't really have a lot of higher cities anyways
St. George is warmer than Granada , but the difference would be much smaller , if i would update the normals of Granada to 1981-2010 period.
And yes, there is nothing in Europe which compares to Denver,and if we would have a city at the same elevation and latitude, it would most likely be much colder.
The climate normals from Pristina and Sarajevo are from 1961-1990, they would most likely be nearly as warm as Boise if data from 1981-2010 would be available. If you compare climates, please use averages from the same period.
Still in most cases Europe is warmer, not only to the east, but also to the west of North America, if you compare low altitude cities at the same latitude.
There is no place in the world which is as warm as Nice ( nearly 44° N) at the same latitude
The same can be said for Edinburgh(56°N), which has a Annual mean temperature higher than 9°C.
Ketchikan is closer to the equator and still MUCH colder.
Scandinavia is just insanely warm and mild for being so far north.
Uppsala (60°N) for example. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uppsala#Climate
Europe is milder than most of North America at the same latitude but usually in the winter and maybe the spring in most cases, as Europe is influenced by the Gulf Stream while the US/Canada is mostly continental in nature with ocean currents not making a huge impact. On the other hand, summers are hotter in North America (especially west of the Mississippi, where there is less humidity to cool the air) than in Europe at the same latitude.
Europe better pray that the Gulf Stream doesn't change course or shutdown.... If it did it would be as much as 10C colder annually in many regions.
I find it amazing that cities on the U.S. Gulf coast such as Houston and New Orleans have colder record lows than London.
Just look at the geography of North America. It's nothing but flat lands from the Arctic down to the Gulf of Mexico. Between the Rockies and the Appalachians, air masses can mover freely, with no geographic obstacles (bar the Great Lakes and the Ozark Plateau which have a minimal influence). While in Europe, they have the Gulf Stream, and a series of mountains in the Center of Europe which shields them from the extreme cold (and heat).
Quote:
Originally Posted by theropod
It really is.
America's East Coast climate is pathetic compared to the adjacent areas in Europe.
North Americas highpoint are their desert climates in Southern California and Arizona which are very warm for their latitude.
I know you are focusing on annual Means, and because of the Atlantic/Gulf Stream influence on European winters, this gives Europe the edge on an annual basis.... But if we also look at the east side of the Cascades, and Rockies up in Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming can see incredible summer heat that I don't think happens anywhere in Europe at the same latitude. Maybe I'm wrong, but I looked s far east as Russia and I couldn't find average temps this high at the same latitude.
Here are some examples (1971-2000 averages for July)
Smyrna WA 46.5F
Priest Rapids Dam 46.6N
Brownlee Dam at 44.8N
Glen's Ferry at 43N with an average max in July of 35.3C... Damn.
I am biased because I'm a mild/warm weather lover. So it will seem 'pathetic' how the East Coast can get extremely cold when places of similar latitudes in Europe don't seem that cold in the winter.
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