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Which cities or areas in the Southeastern United States (hereafter defined as: East TX, East OK, S. MO, AR, TN, KY, WV, VA, NC, TN, SC, GA, AL, MS, FL, LA.) have the coolest climate?
I'm guessing the obvious answers would be places in the mountains of WV, VA, KY, and NC.
Boone, NC really comes to mind, due to its elevation of 3,333 ft, the highest elevation of any town of its size east of the Mississippi. Average Jan H/L is 39/20, Jul. H/L is 76/59. They apparently get a good amount of snowfall, as there are a few ski resorts in the area. Also, Snowshoe, W.Va would be in the same category. Apparently (while no one lives there), the top of Clingman's Dome in the Great Smoky Mtns. NP receives several feet of snow each year, and with the winds, temps can get pretty cold up there.
The coolest climate in the "core" of the South would have to be Mount Leconte by a wide margin, at least among the places that have climate records (higher peaks may be a bit cooler). Snowshoe Mountain is much colder in winter and it's a safe bet it gets a lot more snow. However, Snowshoe is much warmer in summer than Leconte. That looks to be due to the 1500 ft difference in elevation between the two.
If West Virginia had towns and mountains that got up to the 6000 ft altitude of the Smokies there would likely be places above the tree line. For that matter the entire South would be greatly improved by more mountainous terrain. A 10 000 foot mountain range in East Texas would be intriguing, especially with the difference between Houston, at 95/75F, and the guesstimated 70/50F at the mountain peaks.
Yes, per Wikipedia: "Mount Le Conte has a climate similar to that of Southern Canada, giving it cool summers, and cold snowy winters. Snowfall averages 39.43 inches near the base to 71.82 inches on the highest peak. The climate is much cooler and somewhat wetter than the lower elevations. The lowest temperature was -32 on January 13, 1986. It was believed to reach 85 degrees on July 25, 2010, however that reading was in the sun and was not accurate, it only reached 76 degrees that day."
Sounds good to this Southerner who is weary of the unending humidity here!
Yeah, I often wonder how our weather here would be affected if the topography of the nation were a bit different. Perhaps if we had a Superior-sized Great Lake that covered the area of West TN, S. IL, SE MO, most of AR, and NW MS, we might even get some lake effect snow in the South during the winter, if conditions were right.
Yeah, I often wonder how our weather here would be affected if the topography of the nation were a bit different. Perhaps if we had a Superior-sized Great Lake that covered the area of West TN, S. IL, SE MO, most of AR, and NW MS, we might even get some lake effect snow in the South during the winter, if conditions were right.
Any lake-effect would only happen during cold snaps, and with the warm winters you have now having warm water interposing between you and the source region of cold air might make the winter situation worse. If, however, that was combined with much colder winters or much higher altitude it would create a lot of lake-effect snow for you. If there was a small mountain range directly downwind of it that would be even better. If there were more great lakes and mountains in the East overall it would be a better setup.
Another possibility is having a mountain range right in the path where ocean-effect snow occurs in the Atlantic. That would maximize both cold and snow , though it wouldn't help your location.
The coolest climate in the "core" of the South would have to be Mount Leconte by a wide margin, at least among the places that have climate records (higher peaks may be a bit cooler).
That's a lot of precipitation. Any idea what the snowfall stats are?
Total precipitation in the months cold enough for regular snow (Dec-Jan) is about 18 inches. Maybe a little over half of that falls as snow, so 100 inches assuming a 10:1 snow : precip ratio?
I found some weather statistics for Snowshoe, West Virginia. It's only from 1975-2012, so it's not a long record, but for the period of record the stats look reliable enough. The snowfall averages 161 inches per season, which is impressive for "the South".
I haven't found any snow data for Leconte yet, if they've even been compiled.
I found some weather statistics for Snowshoe, West Virginia. It's only from 1975-2012, so it's not a long record, but for the period of record the stats look reliable enough. The snowfall averages 161 inches per season, which is impressive for "the South".
I haven't found any snow data for Leconte yet, if they've even been compiled.
Wow, Boone, NC really is surprisingly cool in the summer. Still too warm, though.
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, though it wouldn't help your location.
