Jump to content
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT ABOUT LOGGING IN ×
  • WELCOME GUEST

    It looks as if you are viewing PalmTalk as an unregistered Guest.

    Please consider registering so as to take better advantage of our vast knowledge base and friendly community.  By registering you will gain access to many features - among them are our powerful Search feature, the ability to Private Message other Users, and be able to post and/or answer questions from all over the world. It is completely free, no “catches,” and you will have complete control over how you wish to use this site.

    PalmTalk is sponsored by the International Palm Society. - an organization dedicated to learning everything about and enjoying palm trees (and their companion plants) while conserving endangered palm species and habitat worldwide. Please take the time to know us all better and register.

    guest Renda04.jpg

How My Latitude Compares To Some Places Around The World


PalmTreeDude

Recommended Posts

2 hours ago, Manalto said:

Build that wall!

The first 0:55 of this is for your enjoyment (Note: pretty vulgar at points): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnM-zVwUM20

Lakeland, FL

USDA Zone 1990: 9a  2012: 9b  2023: 10a | Sunset Zone: 26 | Record Low: 20F/-6.67C (Jan. 1985, Dec.1962) | Record Low USDA Zone: 9a

30-Year Avg. Low: 30F | 30-year Min: 24F

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 11/20/2018, 3:09:51, UK_Palms said:

Don't the Rockies, and Sierra Nevada to a lesser extent, act as massive barriers to the cold that seems to engulf the east coast and the midwest?

Combined with California's proximity to the ocean as well. Also BC and western Canada seem to be much more mild in winter than Nova Scotia and eastern Canada, whether that is due to ocean currents, trade winds, cold fronts being blocked etc. It seems the entire west coast is warmer than the east coast. Southern California probably has the best microclimate in the world IMO (besides the fact that they can be prone to fires). There seems to be lots of variables at play which keeps it so warm and protected from the cold.

Northern California is a different thing entirely. I don't know the meteorology behind it, but I was in San Francisco for a friends wedding a few years back and they had 3 consecutive days where the high did not get above 65F, in July! With thick fog and a cold breeze. It was so cold you couldn't take off a sweater, and this was in mid-summer. Meanwhile it was 90F back in my hometown in England. Crazy. I seriously couldn't live with that. Being cold in winter is one thing, but being cold and foggy in summer is just soul destroying. Wasn't it Mark Twain who said 'the coldest winter I ever spent, was a summer in San Francisco'. 

The problem with all mountain ranges in the US is they run north to south. There are no east to west ranges in the continental US. Arctic fronts tend to plunge north to south with the middle of the country the most common entry point. If anything the western mountain ranges will funnel the cold deep into Texas. Only after the arctic fronts have penetrated the country do west to east winds pick it up. The Appalachian Mountains are not high enough to block the cold from the East Coast. If a significant east to west mountain range existed north of FL to block cold fronts, the whole peninsula might be tropical. As it is, even SFL is subtropical at best. FL weather is not nearly as benign as most people think. The people who flock here in November just as quickly flock away come April. But my  palms are blissfully happy 99% of the time and so am I.

  • Upvote 5

Meg

Palms of Victory I shall wear

Cape Coral (It's Just Paradise)
Florida
Zone 10A on the Isabelle Canal
Elevation: 15 feet

I'd like to be under the sea in an octopus' garden in the shade.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, PalmatierMeg said:

The problem with all mountain ranges in the US is they run north to south. There are no east to west ranges in the continental US. Arctic fronts tend to plunge north to south with the middle of the country the most common entry point. If anything the western mountain ranges will funnel the cold deep into Texas. Only after the arctic fronts have penetrated the country do west to east winds pick it up. The Appalachian Mountains are not high enough to block the cold from the East Coast. If a significant east to west mountain range existed north of FL to block cold fronts, the whole peninsula might be tropical. As it is, even SFL is subtropical at best. FL weather is not nearly as benign as most people think. The people who flock here in November just as quickly flock away come April. But my  palms are blissfully happy 99% of the time and so am I.

 

I always hate when my wife says no to Florida with her sole arguement being she likes "seasons". She often forgets the time in March when it was warmer at home than in South Tampa. Her and her mom dont understand that it can hey downright cold, humid subtropic cold can feel worse than temperate sometimes for some reason, in Florida. I guess they haven't experienced it but I have seen quite a few frosty mornings down there having spent most winter breaks while growing up in Tampa and Clearwater. 

 

I remember one time being bundled up on the beach in a winter coat while Wisconsin folks walked by wet from swimming in summer suits. 

Edited by mdsonofthesouth

LOWS 16/17 12F, 17/18 3F, 18/19 7F, 19/20 20F

Palms growing in my garden: Trachycarpus Fortunei, Chamaerops Humilis, Chamaerops Humilis var. Cerifera, Rhapidophyllum Hystrix, Sabal Palmetto 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 hours ago, mdsonofthesouth said:

 

Funny how pur summers are nearly tropical yet winters are so cold and brutal sometimes. Weirdest humid subtropic region in the world for sure!

I love the oppressive heat and humidity of a Southern summer, I just wish our winters were a tad milder. ^_^

Zone 8a/8b Greenville, NC 

Zone 9a/9b Bluffton, SC

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, mdsonofthesouth said:

 

I always hate when my wife says no to Florida with her sole arguement being she likes "seasons". She often forgets the time in March when it was warmer at home than in South Tampa. Her and her mom dont understand that it can hey downright cold, humid subtropic cold can feel worse than temperate sometimes for some reason, in Florida. I guess they haven't experienced it but I have seen quite a few frosty mornings down there having spent most winter breaks while growing up in Tampa and Clearwater. 

 

I remember one time being bundled up on the beach in a winter coat while Wisconsin folks walked by wet from swimming in summer suits. 

Move to North Florida or the Florida panhandle. It is definitely colder than South Florida but warm enough to grow enough palms that would not survive in the Carolinas. I have also noticed that many people who retire to North Carolina come here because we still have the four seasons yet still have a mild climate year round.

  • Upvote 1

Zone 8a/8b Greenville, NC 

Zone 9a/9b Bluffton, SC

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, NC_Palms said:

I love the oppressive heat and humidity of a Southern summer, I just wish our winters were a tad milder. ^_^

 

I love heart and humidity which is why I couldn't do a Mediterranean climate. I too wish the swing wasnt so stark. 

 

9 hours ago, NC_Palms said:

Move to North Florida or the Florida panhandle. It is definitely colder than South Florida but warm enough to grow enough palms that would not survive in the Carolinas. I have also noticed that many people who retire to North Carolina come here because we still have the four seasons yet still have a mild climate year round.

 

I'd be OK with north Florida, originally was looking at Willmington NC but then the wife totally nixed moving out of county let alone out of state. At least we live in the rural part of the county where I don't have to ask permission to plant a tree that my direct neighbor has...yeah that is a real thing that happened at our last house.

  • Upvote 1

LOWS 16/17 12F, 17/18 3F, 18/19 7F, 19/20 20F

Palms growing in my garden: Trachycarpus Fortunei, Chamaerops Humilis, Chamaerops Humilis var. Cerifera, Rhapidophyllum Hystrix, Sabal Palmetto 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 11/27/2018, 7:07:51, PalmsNC said:

In which case I stand corrected. your link resembles his pictures, I didn't realize it was the scilly isles which are more believable than mainland England.

These photos are indeed from UK, at 51N.

Edited by Cikas
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 11/29/2018, 12:42:15, PalmatierMeg said:

The problem with all mountain ranges in the US is they run north to south. There are no east to west ranges in the continental US. Arctic fronts tend to plunge north to south with the middle of the country the most common entry point. If anything the western mountain ranges will funnel the cold deep into Texas. Only after the arctic fronts have penetrated the country do west to east winds pick it up. The Appalachian Mountains are not high enough to block the cold from the East Coast. If a significant east to west mountain range existed north of FL to block cold fronts, the whole peninsula might be tropical. As it is, even SFL is subtropical at best. FL weather is not nearly as benign as most people think. The people who flock here in November just as quickly flock away come April. But my  palms are blissfully happy 99% of the time and so am I.

In fact, the N-S orientation makes the southward cold air advection even more pronounced. Because the air is blocked from moving west from wherever it enters, causing the momentum to accelerate the air faster south down the mountain spine. Hence the rapid temp drops seen in West Texas and the Great Plains. Same thing happens with the Appalachians to an extent (cold air damming).

Such southward moving outbreaks tend to be worse with positively tilted jet-stream dips (i.e. SW-NE orientation).

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 11/23/2018, 9:57:19, bubba said:

UK,

Just strolled through your magical display in Palms! Mind boggling beauty at incomprehensible latitude. Speechless.

IKR? Not even just the plants, the sky brightness is looking totally impeccable.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great link! I mapped the western and interior sides of continents with drier climates like mine, assuming one gains some elevation. Though the elevation rule falls apart for winter cold to my east, as Las Cruces seems easier on hardy palms and subtropicals in winter than much lower Midland or Abilene and points east, until the "Low Country" of Georgia to South Carolina.

5c047d8a5fd4f_LCLat-NAw.jpg.a777f53a9be3

5c047d97f1886_LCLat-Afw.jpg.52b4bdf111c8

5c047da62f739_LCLat-ME.jpg.307ef23a3c20a

I didn't do screen shots of the southern hemisphere, but inland and western places include Mendoza in Argentina, Sutherland in South Africa, and from Perth to Port Augusta in Australia.

I'd also like to see a way to click on one's location, and a line is generated that follows the same elevation contour on the globe.

I'm at 32*-18' N, but 4100 feet elevation. That latitude and 2 broken ranges of mountains modify polar air coming from the northeast, except those times the cold air is deeper or a cold trough forms and points into Arizona. Then we get cold, such as the 18F low for our season's first freeze this Nov. 13, rare but it's happened before and even a week or so earlier. Or the -4F here on 11/29/1976.

We rarely have daily highs below 32F or cloudy days, and the sun shines intensely to help tougher palms and subtropicals on colder days...mostly 40-50F highs. 

Obviously not as mild in winter as Tucson, further west with more mountains and less elevation. (some pretend we are Tucson, like some in ABQ pretend they are Denver) Still, those 2 mountain ranges to my N/E protect us from regular cold fronts better than in Albuquerque 220 miles N (1000 feet higher, only 1 mountain range N/E) or even in Carlsbad barely N of us (1000 feet lower, and no mountain ranges N/E). 

Edited by Desert DAC
Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 hours ago, AnTonY said:

In fact, the N-S orientation makes the southward cold air advection even more pronounced. Because the air is blocked from moving west from wherever it enters, causing the momentum to accelerate the air faster south down the mountain spine. Hence the rapid temp drops seen in West Texas and the Great Plains. Same thing happens with the Appalachians to an extent (cold air damming).

Such southward moving outbreaks tend to be worse with positively tilted jet-stream dips (i.e. SW-NE orientation).

That jet stream dip (such as early Feb 2011) is an important nuance. I thought NE to SW was considered a negative tilt, though? Anyway, I lived in Denver as a teen then college in Oklahoma, and the plains really have a bipolar climate emphasized by the N-S Rockies to the west plus those NE to SW jet stream dips. 

From the Rio Grande Valley and northwest, we can also get those winters with a persistent parade of Gulf of Alaska cold fronts down the west side of the Rocky Mountains before they curve NE beyond the southern base of the Rockies. The surface winds move over snow-covered areas between eastern Washington to NW New Mexico, and they bite. ABQ got in on some of those airmasses many winters I lived there, though a few years that was persistent. At least the worst cold periods stay north in places like Grand Junction to Boise, especially combined with the jet stream dip. I'm glad my area misses most of that...100 miles south of where it often stops!

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 11/28/2018, 9:23:13, NC_Palms said:

Interesting... I wish my location was warm enough to grow either of those palms. North America seems to be the coldest location at 35º. 

 

 

It most certainly is and always will be. We lost the climate lottery by at least not having an west to east mountain range with altitudes of the Rockies. The Gulf Coast would be zone 10 if the Rockies went east west from Seattle to Boston. The climate winners are in the Southern Hemisphere where all that ocean prevents really cold air, and the southern polar vortex is wrapped up real tight and never lets loose in winter like the northern one.

Edited by mthteh1916
  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 12/2/2018, 6:24:16, Desert DAC said:

 

 

Edited by Desert DAC
remove
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 12/1/2018, 9:37:01, AnTonY said:

In fact, the N-S orientation makes the southward cold air advection even more pronounced. Because the air is blocked from moving west from wherever it enters, causing the momentum to accelerate the air faster south down the mountain spine. Hence the rapid temp drops seen in West Texas and the Great Plains. Same thing happens with the Appalachians to an extent (cold air damming).

Such southward moving outbreaks tend to be worse with positively tilted jet-stream dips (i.e. SW-NE orientation).

Oops, you were right...positive tilted is NE to SW. I've had the opposite in my head for over a decade. Please ignore that part of my reply to your post!

http://www.theweatherprediction.com/habyhints/127/

https://www.weather.gov/jetstream/basic

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now



  • Recently Browsing

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...