Why does no one stereotype about the weather in the USA but stereotype about every single other country's climate

[Ed's Mountain]

Originally Posted by Can't think of username

Being more suitable for orange trees=/=not having a colder climate than a place that isn't. It does mean that they do, because their normal temperature over the course of the whole year is colder than those Southeast US cities.

The orange tree analogy is best used as referring to less winter cold, which of course does not necessarily equate to a warmer climate when all months of the year

I see what you're saying but I still have problems with the wording. Consider the following alternative example: is Tampa colder than Miami? I guess that's one way to describe the situation but I'd think there's a better way to phrase it.

With respect to the stereotype you took issue with, there's one coast which gets actual wintry weather and the other which is quite literally full of palm trees and citrus groves. It doesn't take long to understand how the stereotype came into existence. Ultimately it comes down to the fact that, for most people and essentially all plants, the absence of cold weather counts disproportionately more than the presence of hot weather.

[Can't think of username]

Originally Posted by Ed's Mountain

I see what you're saying but I still have problems with the wording. Consider the following alternative example: is Tampa colder than Miami? I guess that's one way to describe the situation but I'd think there's a better way to phrase it.

I think I see what you're saying as well. As much as the term may be a way to describe the situation, I can see why most such as yourself wouldn't initially perceive it the best.
My guess, now that you mention it, would be that the term colder would be preferable for most to describe a climate that is colder than another because of vastly more cold or extreme cold unlike the Tampa/Miami discrepancy. For example, a Victoria/Fort St. John discrepancy?

Originally Posted by Ed's Mountain

With respect to the stereotype you took issue with, there's one coast which gets actual wintry weather and the other which is quite literally full of palm trees and citrus groves. It doesn't take long to understand how the stereotype came into existence. Ultimately it comes down to the fact that, for most people and essentially all plants, the absence of cold weather counts disproportionately more than the presence of hot weather.

You're right about most people, and I'll take your word on the plants. I think, in addition to showing how the stereotype easily came to be, it shows that perceptions (like the stereotype) don't necessarily line up with reality and that facts (like the fact about the plants) can be misleading without full context from all sides.

[GTB365]

Originally Posted by Ed's Mountain

Inflated desert climates? That's really messed up. Your Arts District is inflated but these are just naturally hot places. Your agenda is showing through again.

Anyway, with respect to coastal Southern California: places immediately on the coast do indeed have lower mean annual temperatures than equivalents in the east but as soon as you get away from the immediate coastal strip it's pretty much a wash. Most places in both regions have mean annual temperatures in the 17-19°C range.

However, rule number one for a place to be considered cold is that it actually has to have cold weather and in terms of actual cold weather it's not even close. For example:

• Oxnard hasn't recorded a freeze in 15 years.
  
• LAX hasn't recorded a freeze in more than 50 years. In that same time Wilmington has recorded more than 2,000 (that's two thousand--not a typo) freezes! Even Miami has had more freezes in the last 50 years (six) than LAX (zero).
  
• Santa Monica has never recorded a freeze! Never.
  
• The UCLA station has not recorded a temperature below 40°F since 2013. In that time, Wilmington has recorded 31 (thirty one--again, not a typo) days where the maximum temperature failed to reach 40°F.

I could go on. The point is, in terms of actual cold weather Southern California and coastal North Carolina (even coastal South Carolina) are not even in the same universe.

Agreed.

No comparison.

The west is warmer in winter than the east when comparing same latitudes....

Santa Monica, California is at 34N
Average January high 63.7F
Average January low 50.9F
Record coldest temperature 33F

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina is slightly farther south than Santa Monica
Average January high 55.5F
Average January low 33.6F
Record coldest temperature 9F ....much colder than Santa Monica

San Diego, California is a bit south of 33N
Average January high 66.4F
Average January low 50.3F
Record coldest temperature 25F

Charleston, South Carolina at about the same latitude as San Diego
Average January high 60.2F
Average January low 38.9F
Record coldest temperature 6F

Phoenix, Arizona at about 33.5N ...elevation just over 1000 ft
Average January high 67.6F
Average January low 46.0F
Record coldest temperature 16F

Augusta, Georgia...same latitude as Phoenix...33.5N
Average January high 59.6F
Average January low 35.3F
Record coldest temperature -1F ....much colder record low than Phoenix

And yes mean annual temperatures are slightly higher
at Myrtle Beach and Charleston compared to their western counterparts.

Myrtle Beach mean annual temperature is 62.4F
Santa Monica mean annual temperature is 61.6F
Pretty close considering that Myrtle Beach has a long hot summer
compared to Santa Monica ....Santa Monica average summer highs
are just a bit over 70F ...a place you can almost not need heating or AC
which is very rare in North America.

Charleston mean annual temperature is 66.5F
San Diego mean annual temperature is 64.7F
Not a big difference ...and San Diego has a much nicer/cooler summer.

Augusta mean annual temperature is 65.4F
Phoenix mean annual temperature is 75.6F (more like Miami)
Phoenix has a very warm mean annual temperature due to combo of mild winters
and very hot summers ....though Augusta summers are not exactly cool...
the average July high for Augusta is 94F (and more humid).

Southern California and lower elevation Arizona are stereotyped as being
warm and sunny ....and they are!

Some sections of coastal California are gardening zone 11...
a higher zone than most of Florida....even low elevation inland desert areas
are zone 10a

[Can't think of username]

To be fair, I do quite enjoy the data from extremely hot for their latitude West Coast climates like Phoenix, Palm Springs, and Death Valley. As a matter of fact they are actually my favorite/most interested West Coast climates precisely because they are so hot for the latitude - just imagine that a 36.1 degree latitude non-tropical desert is every bit as hot as a 24.5 degree latitude tropical climate!
I just think they are lousy to compare with almost anything else on pretty much any basis other than showing how hot they are, because the margin by which they are outliers is huge.

[Joe90]

Isn't Continental a climate trait, much like Oceanic is a climate trait - It's a bit like saying a wet/dry climate.

[Can't think of username]

Originally Posted by Joe90

Isn't Continental a climate trait, much like Oceanic is a climate trait - It's a bit like saying a wet/dry climate.

It's both. Continentality is as much a trait or adjective as it is a classification: I could say a place like Central Texas is quite continental for its latitude by referring solely to the lack of maritime influence and high seasonality for the latitude, but it is clearly a subtropical climate because it has winters over 10 Celsius warmer than the cutoff.

[Joe90]

Originally Posted by Can't think of username

It's both. Continentality is as much a trait or adjective as it is a classification: I could say a place like Central Texas is quite continental for its latitude by referring solely to the lack of maritime influence and high seasonality for the latitude, but it is clearly a subtropical climate because it has winters over 10 Celsius warmer than the cutoff.

As a trait, it's an abstract notion that can't be reasonably determined at any time of the year - much like Oceanic-ness can't be reasonably determined at any time of the year.

[Ralph_Kirk]

Well, I've been in Dallas for seven years now, and I'm still looking out for that zero snow year.

[Can't think of username]

Originally Posted by Joe90

As a trait, it's an abstract notion that can't be reasonably determined at any time of the year

I have heard Emman85 say that the trait is that found in the center of large non tropical continents (hence continent-al, weather from the continent). In North America's case this seems to be a full range of temperatures, from hot summers to cold winters and mild weather in spring and fall.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rugby,_North_Dakota

I'd say in North America it can be easily determined, should you know what time of year it is, it is easy to see. You know that you get the full range of temperatures, so how close or in between either extreme of hot or cold you are, determines the season.

Originally Posted by Joe90

- much like Oceanic-ness can't be reasonably determined at any time of the year.

You're probably right on that, oceanic climates seem more defined based on their genetics.