Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Why is it Warm and Cool on the West Coast and Hot and Cold on the East Coast? Wouldn't it be better to live on the West Coast where the weather is much more timid than the extreme weather on the East Coast?
1) In the summer, the Pacific Ocean is cold while the Atlantic Ocean is quite warm (beach water by NYC is usually warmer than LA beaches, even though LA is much further south). This makes the West Coast cooler and much less humid. It also contributes to the lack of summer rainfall
2) Weather usually comes from the West. This means in the winter, the west coast gets mild weather from the ocean, limit the occurance of subfreezing temps. Also, the mountains tend to prevent weather incursions from other directions, limiting subarctic airflow. The east coast commonly get weather from the northwest in the winter bringing nasty cold snaps.
Most people would probably west coast weather, too. But it's a matter of taste. Some west coast climates are rather odd. An extreme is Eureka; same latitude as NYC and similar yearly average, but almost seasonless. 50s and 60s yeararound daytime highs with few frosts or above 80+ temperatures. And often foggy with rather cloudy wet winters. Some people might prefer a real summer (and even a real winter); I'm not sure what my preference would be.
West coasts in general tend to be milder than east coasts, though the US west coast is a bit unusual with cooler and drier summers because the Pacific Ocean has a cold current. Compare, for example, Western Europe and North Africa with East Asia or the coasts of southern South America.
In Australia it seems to be the opposite. Perth and Sydney are on a similar latitude, but Perth has a summer high average of around 31c compared to the timid 25c you get in Sydney at the same time of year
Well England is basically cool and cold (summer and winter) so I could tolerate Hot and Cold but would rather have Hot and Warm if it were an option. So the deep south of the USA. West coast climates are too boring for my liking.
The west coast is heavily moderated by maritime currents which is why its winters are mild and summers are warm but not very hot near the coasts. The same effect is seen in coastal western Africa, Portugal, the UK of course.
East coast places, the prevailing westerly winds have travelled over a lot of land area and because land heats and cools much more effectively than ocean, you get the bigger temperature range between winter and summer.
Why is it Warm and Cool on the West Coast and Hot and Cold on the East Coast? Wouldn't it be better to live on the West Coast where the weather is much more timid than the extreme weather on the East Coast?
Well that can be a little misleading:
The West Coast is warm/cool and the “Upper East Coast” is hot/cold. The Lower East Coast from North Carolina southward to Florida is warm/warm. Once you get to around southeastern North Carolina…the East Coast is milder than the West Coast 9 out of 12 months a year (and even in the three winter months temps in cities like Savannah, Charleston, New Orleans are only about 6 F cooler than cities like San Diego). Of course the far southern East Coast (Florida) is warm/hot 12 months a year. Also, Florida has far less extreams half the year (November through April) than anywhere on the West Coast. Florida gets far less storms/rain than anywhere on the West Coast for a longer time of the year. Much of the West Coast above central CA...is often wet and stormy.
I really think you get the best deal on the East coast…you can find beach weather or cool weather somewhere up/down I-95… 12 months a year...and the warmest November to April temps are on the East Coast in Florida.
.
Well England is basically cool and cold (summer and winter) so I could tolerate Hot and Cold but would rather have Hot and Warm if it were an option. So the deep south of the USA. West coast climates are too boring for my liking.
Define "cold". It depends on your body's tolerance, and what you are used to, and the time of year. You know this, you just like playing the "oh it's more extreme blah blah here than where you are" game.
So. Once it only reached a high of 51F here in August. Cold? Yes. For August that's very cold.
It went down to -10C / 14F here in December. Cold? Regardless of anywhere else, I'd say "yes", more than enough to give somebody severe hypothermia, and definitly feels very cold! So yes we do get real cold here.
There's always going to be somewhere else colder than here. Like antarctica, canada, northern USA, Russia? Do I care? No.
Last edited by Weatherfan2; 09-29-2010 at 08:47 AM..
Define "cold". It depends on your body's tolerance, and what you are used to, and the time of year. You know this, you just like playing the "oh it's more extreme blah blah here than where you are" game.
So. Once it only reached a high of 51F here in August. Cold? Yes. For August that's very cold.
It went down to -10C / 14F here in December. Cold? Regardless of anywhere else, I'd say "yes", more than enough to give somebody severe hypothermia, and definitly feels very cold! So yes we do get real cold here.
There's always going to be somewhere else colder than here. Like antarctica, canada, northern USA, Russia? Do I care? No.
A 51°F high in August sounds miserable.
No, it's more it's annoying to here British people complain "that it's so cold in the winter when I feel it's not bad and that they're lucky it's not really cold". England has warmer winters than much of Europe, let alone other places in the world. England is cool and damp and kinda miserable in the winter but not really cold. I remember a number of days of above 50°F / 10°C in England that is not cold. 14°F is the average night temperature where I live.
As has been mentioned in the thread about damp and dry cold, it seems as though much of England experiences a damp cold during the winter, which certainly isn't pleasant for most people. Locations colder than England usually experiences lower temperatures, but dryer conditions.
But by a lot of standards, is England frigid? When you compare it to much of Canada, the upper midwest, New England, Russia, etc., then no.
Does the northern U.S. and England experience a similar number of arctic outbreaks per year?
In London, January is the coldest month and still averages 11 days with highs above 50F. I remember hearing somewhere that Buxton is one of the coldest towns in England though?
In 2005 London recorded a high of 16C/61F in late July, it was the coldest July day for 25 years.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
It depends on your body's tolerance, and what you are used to, and the time of year. You know this, you just like playing the "oh it's more extreme blah blah here than where you are" game. 
