Best to live in Tijuana and work in San Diego then ‘cause I also just watched the video on what the US-Mexico border is like! But please, it’s best to cross in Tecate - not at San Ysidro or Otay Mesa because those are too crowded for crossing back into the U.S. as a U.S. Citizen. Actually, you would benefit more if you lived in Ensenada than anywhere in the San Diego-Tijuana metropolitan area, but still worked in San Diego, California because while San Diego and Ensenada are nice, Tijuana reportedly has the highest murder rate in the world. Still, even if you crossed via TJ (that’s what a lot of San Diego residents call Tijuana, but even though I’m not originally from there nor have I been there before, I’ve considered moving there from my senior year of high school the day after my 18th birthday), it takes only 2 hours to drive between San Diego and Ensenada as the secure scenic route Mexico 1D from TJ takes just 90 minutes. Best scenario that could ever happen to someone realistically, so I think it’s a win-win! Btw you mentioned humidity and dew point at 8:05 and 9:05 respectively but did you know that dew point is actually a temperature like the air temperature (dry-bulb temperature) and is actually closer to the wet-bulb temperature; the difference is that dew point is based on shade measurements while wet bulb measures how the human body feels in direct sunlight (the most comfortable level of which is around 22C (72F) signifying a mild tropical environment suitable for humans (we collectively are a tropical species preferring warm environments)), plus dew point is useful in humid climates to determine overnight low temperatures. So saying the dew point has to be 50 actually means you DO care that the temperature doesn’t get lower than that because dew point temperature cannot be higher than the air temperature. Btw in case you’re wondering the 1/3 rule is used by scientists to determine the wet bulb from dew point and air temperature and the difference between them, so FL is actually preferable for some because it stays warm in overnight which is all well and good for part of the year, but on the flip side, when it gets cold in Florida, you really feel it. Yes, even if you’re from a state where sub-freezing temperatures are normal in winter.
Thank you for explaining why the central US gets so many tornadoes. I'd had never heard that about the mountains being oriented N-S versus E-W as in, say, Europe.
The rockies all rock few trees in the west lots of snow too. the smaller Appalachian chain mountain range near the east coast covered in trees very lush green and other smaller ranges up into upstate new york west of NYC the Catskills.
I accidentally came across this video of yours today. I so wish that I had had you as a teacher in high school because then I would developed an interest in weather back then. Your descriptions and diagrams/maps were really effective in getting the facts across while still making the subject super interesting. I'm really looking forward to watching more of your videos. Thank you!
I really appreciate your comment. I'm glad you liked the video. My degree is in geography with a specialization in climatology so I always enjoy talking about weather stuff.
@@GeographyKing Well, I've always said that despite doing well in school I must have either missed all the geography lessons or learned it for the test and completely forgotten it all. I'm really looking forward to seeing your geography videos too since I know it will be fun, interesting, and informative. Thank you!
@@GeographyKing Just saw this video. Like you I have an interest in both geography and meteorology. I really appreciate your whole video, especially the part about RELATIVE humidity vs. Dew Points or ABSOLUTE humidity as I was taught to call it as a Metrologist (science of weights and measures). I also appreciate the discussions involving mountain and lake orientation and effects on weather in the USA. Would enjoy similar or more detailed videos. I think people could learn a lot about weather and geographies effects. Or perhaps a second channel for that. With all your travels I am sure you have experienced lots of weather. Oh and LA is not so bad if you don’t mind the smog and all the people already living there! ;-)
You have one of the really unique and informative channels on RUclips. I forwarded your Arizona video to my son, who had just moved to the Phoenix area. He does business demographics analytics for a living, and he was quite impressed. This channel is much more useful than watching dogs and cats entertain humans. Thank you.
As a meteorologist, I really like this video. Everything you said is accurate. Dew point is indeed the best way to judge "humidity". Honestly, relative humidity is a useless number for anyone except for meteorologists. The fact the media always shares the humidity puzzles me.
lmao exactly. A relative humidity of 40% at 70°F is very comfortable, not too dry and certainly not too humid, while a relative humidity of 40% at 100°F is oppressive and almost dangerous.
And then there’s Utah, hottish summers, but not muggy like the south and not blazing Arizonas, cold winters with snow, but not too terribly cold, rarely gets to the negatives, and snow rarely goes over a foot, and the spring and fall! The weather is GORGEOUS and it goes on for so long!! It’s June today and still I’d say it’s late spring. I wore a sweater last week.
Spring and fall are my favorite seasons. Utah sounds like NY kind of place, I'm from Cincinnati Ohio, I do like having all the seasons. Its just that Here, spring and fall are only about 8 weeks each, seem to be getting shorter, summers are long hot and very humid, winters about late November to early March. I prefer not to be freezing cold nor Humid and sweating, and thats mostly what we have here. Yesterday , June 1st I was sitting on the porch in the shade, sweating. And this is nothing compared to July and August here, unbearable/ unpleasant.. Hope you have a nice Summer in Utah. ,! Peace and prosperity!
@@ayten3617 Peace and prosperity to you too! Oof, the weather there reminds me a lot of Texas, but probably more winter. Hot and humid is a special experience 😅 I’ve never been to Nee York, but I always assumed it was super cold :0
This taught me so much! I currently live in the U.P. (Upper Peninsula) about 3 miles west of Lake Superior but moved here from central texas I’ve always wondered about many things that you explained so easily! I have two teenage boys in high school, I’m going to suggest this to them. I think they will love it too. Thank you for this GREAT video!
One place that's particularly known for lake-effect precipitation is the Keweenaw Peninsula (a sub-peninsula of the UP, with its main city of Houghton). It sticks out from the larger landmass into L. Superior, so catches a lot of moist air from the lake. It also has some sizable hills, forcing the air upward and the moisture out of it.
Dang, this video was EXCELLENT. I not only learned a ton of stuff I needed to understand America and where to move from where I am in America now, but I also learned a bunch of key principles to engineering questions I have had for a while re: building a water reclamation system for off grid living. Your explanations were concise, dense, and yet crystal clear. Really really good job. I'm so upset youtube doesn't give me more thumbs up to give to you.
You blowing my mind with this dew point thing. I always wondered why other cities felt better than New Orleans despite the fact that the relative humidity was the same. Thank you for continuing to post great educational content!
Having lived in and around Seattle for many years, I whole heartedly agree that the summers in that region are pretty much paradise on earth. The famous gloominess lasts from about October to June, but otherwise it's basically long days of perfect weather over top of ridiculously beautiful scenery.
I live in Canada but my wife is from Eastern Washington. They get really nice weather there. Dry air, no wind to speak of, mild winters, cool nights in summer.
Great video, California’s topography and it’s effect on climate fascinates me! The diurnal range in Pinnacles National Park, for example, is over 50° in July, further inland, Bodie a old ghost town has never had more than 30 days frost free! what a rich and diverse country the USA is.
MAPS: 4:25 Basic Topography 4:50 Average Annual Precipitation 5:23 Tornado Alley 6:29 World Tornadoes 7:08 All (US) Tornadoes 1950-2016 7:20 Average Annual Tornado Watches* per Year *a 'watch' means only that conditions exist in which a tornado is likely to occur, NOT that a tornado has been sighted -- that's a tornado warning 8:56 Summer in Vegas chart 9:31 Historical Hurricane Tracks 10:37 Average Annual Snowfall 14:12 Suggested Tactic for Winter Sanity
Can I just say.... I absolutely LOVE your videos! I’m a total geography nerd and I am really into meteorology as well. Most people think I’m weird as hell for it too! And being smart shouldn’t be strange!!! Anyway- love, love, LOVE the videos!!! Keep up the great work!
Don't forget in the Midwest, especially the cornbelt, it can get very humid during July and August because of the corn evapotranspiration. Here in Iowa we get can get dewpoints near 80 degrees with a temp of 95+.
I'm from Cincinnati and its very humid in summer time. For me personally almost unbearable. I like to be able to sit outside in the shade and not sweat like crazy. We get no breeze just hot humid , still air all summer. Even humid while its grey and raining all day in summer.
Possibly my favorite bit of information I've seen/heard from you, so far. I've been watching the shit outta your channel since I found you a few days ago. I really enjoy everything you've got, but as you've mentioned...it's the Climate & Weather which effect SOOOOO much of EVERYTHING we do, feel, think, act, experience, etc.... I'm a fan, good man. Thank you for all your research :D
Thank you, Kyle, for 14 minutes of accessible yet detailed description of the land surface system and the climate across the contiguous US. As a fellow geographer, I'm really grateful that you've made these informative and entertaining videos that prove geography is more than "you must know what all the state capitals are." It's unfortunate that RUclips has tagged this video with a "context" warning that seems to imply that your content might or might not be true or accurate. Thanks again for taking the time to provide such a great introduction to what has shaped the US climate over more or less that last 11,000 years and continues to determine the weather Americans see and live every day.
Thanks for this video, I learned a lot. I’m a native of Southern California, in the LA Metro area. Climate is very important to me and weather watching has been a hobby of mine. I can hardly believe how much the weather has changed from the 60’s to the present day. I’d say a Spring day of 70-72 degrees is my favorite kind of day in LA. I get excited when it rains and we sometimes get some thunder and lightening. Sadly, it keeps getting warmer here.
Good old physical geography. This is great! Nice job explaining about the orographic effect and variable temperatures over land and water. Have you done a video explaining how climate is based on earth-sun relationships and the tilt of the earth on it's axis? I don't think most people know that this is the basis of all climate. Variations in topography are secondary (though, as you point out, extremely important).
I find the climate you have in the US to be super interesting and unlike anything that can be found somewhere else. Im from Sweden and the climate here is very boring for the most part compared to the US. I cant imagine how much nice year round good weather would be. Here, during the "winter" months (basically late october to march) the sun only rises for a couple of hours a day and even when its up there is usually a thick clowd cover that gives everything a greeyish colour. I spent one Christmas in the northernmost part of sweden and I almost didnt see the sun a single time because of how north we were.
Something to add that most don't realize: Seattle can get really hot- 95- 100 deg, usually around July. Inland eastern WA & OR can also get very hot in summer but only for 1-2 mo & isn't humid & gets very cold with a lot of snow & ice in winter. The weather is not like Seattle at all- not humid, not dreary. People think Pacific NW & think Seattle; inland WA is not like that. Central WA is actually a desert. Hot AF! 🥵
I have family up in Rochester. My dad had stories of jumping off the second story roof into the snowdrifts for fun because they would periodically get high enough to cover the first floor windows.
I find that the most severe weather or the "sweet spot" for any kind of weather is the major northeast cities from DC to Boston including Philadelphia and NYC. This area has seen blizzards, ice storms, heat waves, hurricanes, severe thunderstorms, and even a tornado or two. If you like exciting weather, move to NYC. You'll never get bored of the weather.
That historical hurricane chart is crazy. I looked it up and yes there was a hurricane that passed over the driftless region on 9/11 in 1900. Crazy stuff. Keep posting this awesome cartography and geography stuff man.
For years I lived just south of Watertown, NY and commuted to Syracuse. Known as the Tug Hill Plateau, it was a terrifying nightmare of blowing snow from Oct-April. Zero visibility.
Great video. I knew bits and pieces of this already, but you tied it together nicely. I had never even thought of the impact of mountain range orientation....east-west vs north-south.
Great video! Growing up near Buffalo NY I learned about lake effect snow storms at a young age. We do get a lot of snow but I still think this is one of the best areas of the country to live. We were in Rockport Texas about 6 months after Hurricane Harvey. I would never want to go through something like that. The devastation was unbelievable! We very rarely get a tornado or earthquake. We don’t have ginormous forest fires either. The winters can be very long though.
You can't compare two totally different Xtreme weather locations. Everybody knows the weather in Buffalo sucks. I mean everybody even here in the desert of Southern California. And I do know what I'm talking about as I lived in Upstate New York for about five years.
"The Giant Lakes" I am from Akron, OH and I have never heard of "The Giant Lakes". But that was a good explanation of why Erie and Ontario produce so much more snow....
“I believe the climate is the most important aspect of where you live, it affects every aspect of your life...” 😔😔😔 hearing that when you live in the UK is hard
I grew up right between Rochester and Syracuse in a tiny town called Newark. Not even horror movies can accurately depict our winters. I remember having a snow day once when we got like 18 inches of snow over night. It was almost the end of April. Ah, good times. I loved our winters though. Everything became quiet and beautiful. The entire world seemed to shut down for brief periods of time, but we also knew how to live our lives. My parents went to work and I went to school and everything remained functional and okay. It was a great time in my life.
One day this summer it was a beautiful day, high 70s, a few light clouds, just enough breeze to keep any bugs down. My wife said I wish it could be like this all the time. Then I told her, "yah, but then EVERYBODY would want to live here"
I'm looking at the map at 4:25 and it reminds me of driving I80 from Cal to my home in Minnesota. IMO Cal, Nev, Utah, & Wyoming were absolutely beautiful with snow-capped mountain and then I hit Nebraska. Nebraska was just cornfield after cornfields after cornfields, I'm going insane thinking about it.
Weird how the UK and Ireland are on the same latitude as Central Canada, yet have a climate more similar to that of San Francisco, which is on the same latitude as Southern Italy
@@torivar4838 hello I live in central Europe. The climate here is of Chicago or southern Wisconsin type or coastal New England type ( not exactly but close). The Rome lattitude or Mediterenian climate is much warmer here than in US because between northern Europe and southern Europe there is a location for Alps mountains that work as a natural blocker of northern cold air masses. To some extend the same with Carpatian mountains, the same with Pirenejs ( Spain/France border) or some Balcans mountains. All these mountains are high up much and go throw Europe from east to west direction. The only region that is a little similar to US is east Europe and southern Russia. So Black Sea coast is similar to Virginia and Moscow is maybe like Montreal.
Western Europe is milder compared to the USA or Canada mainly because of the Gulf Stream. Madrid, Spain is located at the same latitude as New York City Brussels as Calgary Amsterdam as Saskatoon Dublin as Edmonton
@@nautacomio1233 Yes I agree but Gulf Stream affects only western Europe especially Great Britain, northern France, western part of Germany, Denmark, Norway. The more east the less impact of Gulf Stream and believe me for example in central Poland the weather patterns are not the same as for example in Holand. We are having typical winter with snow and freeze down to -15 in Celsius now,the climate here is much more continental. Madrit is settled in different zone, it is subtropical continental something like western Texas
@@tomaszs.9985 Well, I was referring to Western Europe indeed. I know Eastern Europe is another thing and it has nothing to do with Western European climate. I live in Madrid so I can tell you that Madrid is not subtropical at all. Madrid's climate is continentalized Mediterranean. According to with Köppen classification: Csa-BSk climate. Believe me, some parts of the Iberian Peninsula Plateau are very used to temperatures down to -15ºC in winter. Teruel city a couple of weeks ago had -21ºC minimum temperatures. Thank God we have the Gulf Stream. There are some cities around the Plateau about 1.000 metres above the Sea Level and without the Stream, they all would be a little Siberia.
@@nautacomio1233 Yes I know exactly that winters in places like Madrit or Salamanca are got into cold air in the winter. But You have hot and long summer. Our polish climate is strange, it is a transitional between continental and maritime with very unstable weather. It is rather cold ( compared to Spain) but not extremely cold. The summer is warm and with cold nights. But the weather changes all the time and is unpredictable because Poland gets warm air especially from Central Asia ( usually nice spring time with 20-25 degrees in Celsius) and ocassionally heat from Sahara and cold from norther west as also from Siberia. Now, the snow has fallen and it is 0 degrees but quite nice with a little snow. Siberia cold air masses dont get to us so hard as did in the past. The flowers outside the house did not become freezed 2019/2020 winter. But this year the winter is much colder. With regards! P.S. I saw plauteau in central Spain in Google and it is beautiful.
I live in Erie, PA, we got dumped on with lake effect snow on 12/25/17. Broke a ton of records, and was the most snow I've ever seen in such a short amount of time in my 36 years living here. Lake effect is no joke
The poster before me is a meteorologist ... I am not ... but, I join in his praise. I learned a lot. Save for 4 years in Oregon, for school, I've lived in San Francisco all of my life. Oregon taught me to love the rain. SF has taught me how fortunate I am that I'm not subject to searing heat. And, yes, we have humidity that we can actually SEE, blowing down the street. In the spring of '23, I'm planning a cross-country trip via Amtrak. We don't know, yet, about which routes to take east/west. I'm going to review this video as we get closer to the journey. Thanks.
The moisture (or lack of it) coming east from the Rocky's is very evident by watching the farm fields. Lots of irrigation in Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, but as you get into Iowa, Illinois, Indiana it's rare to see a field irrigated. Consistent and fairly even rain throughout the growing season eliminates the need for irrigation.
If I recall, tornado alley is still in the plains, though it has grown, the area down in Mississippi and Alabama is called ‘Dixie alley’ and is completely separate.
On the tornadoes of the Southeast: tornadoes used to be largely a spring phenomenon, but they are getting more frequent, especially in the southeast, in the fall and winter when they used to be rare.
Here in Santa Fe, NM we have beautiful winters. Sunny and chilly with the occasional chance of snow. But the real precipitation happens during monsoon season which is in the summer. So a little bit different than most of the country. Dry winters and wet summers.
This was fantastic! I think an interesting topic (at least for me) would be a video on the crazy hot winds that blow down the slopes of some mountains--The Chinooks, Santa Ana's, Scirocco, etc. They have an amazing affect geographically as well as psychologically.
IMO, I think the Pacific NW has the best overall climate in the US for people who like to have nice weather, but without the intense heat or overwhelming humidity during summer. -Not as hot or dry as California, not as hot and humid as the southeast, not as cold as the midwest, not as cold, hot, and humid as northeast, and not as hot and dry as the southwest. -Doesn't have as many of the crazy weather as other areas too, like hurricanes and tornadoes. Our biggest risks are volcanoes (almost nothing to fear in 90% of the PNW cities), wildfires (not as big of a threat to the major cities in most normal years), and the big earthquake (which is very likely never to come in our lifetimes anyway). I'd rather take these over the much higher likelihood of earthquakes in California or Oklahoma, tornadoes, flooding, sinkholes, rising sea levels, or hurricanes. -We get all of the good traits from around the US: warm, but not too hot or humid summers, not too cold winters, fall colors (seasons), lots of snow in the mountains (current world record spot for snow depth is in Washington on Mt Baker, and previously on Mt Rainier), relatively no snow down in the valley, and long spring seasons for prolonged flower blooms. Soil never gets as cold, so growing plants is easier. The PNW has the best growing conditions for growing a very wide variety of horticultural plants in the US. -We also have almost every kind of terrain/biome imaginable: temperate rainforest, dry forests, alpine environments, desert, mountains, all the different types of volcanoes (composite, shield, caldera, spatter, cinder, fissure, flood basalts...), canyons, islands, large beaches, rugged coastline, some of the tallest trees in the world, massive glaciers (WA with more than any other state outside of Alaska), and lava beds. Many of these places are within a couple hours drive too. If you only ever traveled around the PNW your entire life, you would never grow tired of it. There is just so much variety. Not to say that you shouldn't ever travel elsewhere though.
I agree. I've lived in several parts of the US but love the PNW weather the most. This summer has been incredible and when I've had visitors from other states they're amazed that we can sit outside eating dinner in the evening without constantly swatting insects. And still light enough at 10pm. Winter is fine by me also. That's why parkas were invented! Beware the Cascadia Subduction Zone though!
Always have been intrigued by the north west. Even tho ive never been, something about it has always caught my attention since i was little, my aunt use to tell me stories of her travels and its her favorite place shed ever been, how beautiful it is in that part of the world.. Being from Cincinnati Ohio I always wanted to move to Pacific NW.! My Favorite season is spring and fall, and those are our shortest seasons, usually only lasting no more than 2 months each. I like rain and cloudy gray days. Our summers here are so humid with no breeze. Just sitting on the porch I was drenched the other day that was end of may.. . mid July here is just not pleasant, even in the shade, or if its raining and grey in summer, its still humid. Winters are average I guess here, can be cold from End of November - early march seems like we've been getting less snow in recent years, dryer winters.. Then comes spring which is beautiful, but seems to come and go so fast anymore. Then long hot humid summers, then fall might be a little longer than spring but once it ends its transition from fall to winter happens swifty.
Disagree. San Francisco Peninsula has the mildest climate in the country. It is a right balance between Pacific NW chilly and LA sunny. Not only is it slightly cold in summers, it is usually very sunny in winters as it gets less rains.
Thank you so much for this video! I've rewinded and rewatched it so many times, I'm just fascinated with climates and geography, this answered a lot of questions I've had.
Granted the snow belts are heavier in upstate NY than what you get along Lakes Michigan and Superior. However the snow depth totals for the North and West side of lower Michigan are substantially enhanced with places like Maple City and Gaylord getting approx 150 inches of snow each winter. In the Upper peninsula it is even worse as Lake Superior is a more west to east lake and really dumps heavy loads of snow in the northern 3/4 of the UP. Places like Houghton and Ishpeming can and normally exceed 200 inches of snow per winter. So I guess everything is relative.
I used to work with a woman who was born and raised in Hancock, Michigan. She told me that when she was a teenager, they got some snow in June one year.
@@laurencegray4720 not surprising. Hancock is located on The Keewanaw Peninsula which is the “ rabbitt’s ear that extends north into Lake Superior. Being surrounded by water and that far north The Keewanaw is virtually inundated with lake effect snow constantly in the winter.
Thanks. I've always been fascinated by meteorology and specialized in climatology when in college. I edited out a few parts of the video that got pretty technical into meteorology but always love studying it.
I'm so happy to grow up between alabama and florida. The tornados suck and the hurricanes but the warm weather and thunderstorms are a blessing. A rainy night in alabama or florida makes u sleep better then u will ever sleep in ur life.
Geography King I want a state with cool 60 degree weather that can still support 4 season growing and perennial gardens. I’ve lived in Maryland my whole life and it’s hell here. When I was a kid, it used to be tolerable and nice. But global warming has made it hell. Sounds like I have to pay attention to the wind belt maps of the US.
Living in western Oregon I can say that Summers in the PNW are wonderful. It's true that it doesn't rain as much in Summer (usually) but when it does its usually after a heatwave. August is prime time for thunderstorms as well. ⛈
I grew up in Big Bear Calif, and have been living in the mtns of Rio de Janeiro state for 20 yrs, a place called Petrópolis, where the big flash flood destroyed so much last week. My house sits at 3,000ft in the forest and the temp. goes from 32°-90° with lots of rain, mostly drizzle and fog, all yr. But the city spreads from the wet southern plateau to the dry northern foothills. While at sea level coconuts and mangoes fruit well up here they won´t produce fruit but avocados and bananas thrive. Being from the US and having spent 3 yrs in Charlottesville VA I wanted fall colors in fall and no obstruction of sun in winter time so I planted several varieties of plane trees, which have real challenges with mistletoe and leaf-cutting ants but fit well with the bromeliads and orchids that cling onto everything and give a show in the winter set among the leafless branches. The sweetgums are ruthless so they´re perfect for this region, and now I´m experimenting with pin oaks and elms. I often think that our dry winters recall a coastal Calif. climate and our humid summers an Appalachian one. Demographically it´s also interesting that the city was the imperial seat for Brazil, along with Rio and was settled by Germans, Italians, Portuguese, mulattoes and some Japanese, so when you add all this together you don´t really know where you are! Anyway Brazil´s southern and southeastern coast is full of these plateaus where there´s frost enough for the native monkey puzzle trees to grow and where, like this summer, we haven´t seen the sun pretty much since Oct. Check it out some time, you might find it interesting. Keep up the great videos, I´m learning a lot!!!
I remember going for a run at my uncle's house down in Virginia one morning. I thought that because it was 75 degrees, it would be okay. It was 100% humidity.
I’ve worked with Boomers for the past 7 years since I entered the workforce and I can confidently say that the weather is their favorite topic of small conversation.
The coast of Chile is basically is just the opposite of North America's pacific coast. Temperate rainforests on the outer areas and as you move closer to the equator it gets drier and even extremely dry as in northern Mexico and the Atacama desert.
You jumped straight from the Pacific coast to the Great Plains. No discussion of the rest of the western U.S.? Maybe you can do a similar video discussing this area.
Much more interesting than I thought it would be. You are very knowledgeable. One thing I want to mention, and this is probably the best place to do this as much as anywhere, but on tv and every report on "global warming" (just call it what it really is, planet destruction) every time they have to tell you how much the weather is changing. But they're wrong on some of it. Its changing here, cleveland area, but its going the opposite way. Summers are cooler, winters are warmer and less snow. I wondered if you have any explanation for this.
I'm in Cincinnati and it seems that spring and fall have been getting shorter and shorter. While less over all snow days in the winters. Summers are hot n humid.
Actually, you can be as far north as the MA/VT and MA/NH state lines and it still may as well be GA in the summer, at least if you are more than 20 miles inland.
In the florida panhandle, we see a “monsoon” season in the summer - peaking in July, and a dry season in the fall- peaking in October. Then the cold season starts in December and lasts through February where it regularly gets to a “freezing” 50°F. Pretty Tropical here and when it rains it pours down but most of the time its sunny.
Weather and climate. The importance cannot be over-stated. I love meteorology. I studied it in college along with the other earth sciences. Great video!
I live in Southern Maine where we get snowy and cold winters, super rainy springs and falls, and even though most people don’t know it, we get pretty hot summers (particularly brutal over the recent years especially - around 100 in late July with insane humidity). also summers are usually not particularly dry or wet but we get lots of thunderstorms then
Three years ago I bought a house in the Eastern Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Being from South Eastern Michigan I am used to a lot of humidity and days on end of cloudiness. The Eastern UP has more days of sun and a much lower dew point than most of Michigan. Why? It is basically a narrow “strip” of land between two huge lakes (Lake Superior and Lake Michigan). I have often taken friends to swim in three of the Great Lakes in a single day. Those being Great Lakes Superior, Michigan and Huron. Actually it is quite easy and can be done in just a few hours. Guess what I am doing on my 55th birthday?
We have something for everyone. Personally, I love the 4 seasons, lived in SF for 15 years and got homesick fur the northeast every summer and winter. Coastal weather in California is boring. I live in NYC, love the variety of weather here. Did you know that NYC and Boston get more precipitation than Seattle, but it's spread out evenly over the year.
I lived in Tacoma, WA for six years and when I first arrived there, my father in law told me a "PNW" expression. "The mountain is out today!" I was there a week before I understood what he was saying. I just landed a job and I had to be there for my first day, one June morning and as I was trying to navigate a new cities traffic, I got stuck at a red light and I looked to my right and THERE WAS MOUNT RAINIER!!!!!!!! Point being, it was June and I hadn't even noticed Mt. Rainier yet! I had seen so many pictures of it, but as they say, " pictures do it no justice!" And they were right. It literally took my breath away!
About 12 years ago we had a day in January where it got up to 70° F. This is in SE Wisconsin. I was outside the house and it sound like a freight train. A minute later the sirens went off. Yah, we had a tornado in January. We also occasionally get thunder during snow storms.
@@laurencegray4720 Temperatures in the 60s or 70s are not entirely unheard of here during the winter. Just highly unusual. They require a very strong weather system moving north from the Gulf coast that does not encounter a cold front of any great strength. Normally when we get strong fronts moving up from the Gulf we get snow.
We usually have warmer weather when the wind is from the south (as in Louisiana) or the southwest (Texas). The surrounding states frequently share their weather with us whether or not we want their weather.
@@laurencegray4720 I feel your pain, sort of. I've known a number of people who retired, moved South and were back two years later. Two main reasons are "the grandchildern" and the summers. Two words related to weather I really dread a "polar vortex".
One thing that for me as a european is intresting about northen american climate is how different it is to the european climate. Often it’s easy to think about ”lattitude” as a guide for climate where the sam distance from the equator is a similar climate.. and in many cases that’s kinda true... but not when we look at europe and north america. New york city... that’s the same lattitude as Madrid... quite different climate there cause most parts of spain equals the climate of los angeles and like texas. From my experiense it seems like snow is quite common in NYC during winter right? Or at least if we go to toronto in canada... well... non of those places are anywhere near the 56°N. I live on 56°N... we don’t get much snow... some years we get snow but mostly no snow at all... infact.. in europe you have to go almost all the way up to the polar circle to really get a similar winter climate as most of canada has. But where i live the climate in general equals NYC, or a little bit furter south... during winter it barely breaks the 0°C, and if it does it rarely drops under -5°C and in summer we get like 20-25°C. Quite humid all year round... rainy... we can get heat waves with up to 30° or a tiny bit higher and that’s torture with our humidity... going down to spain 40°C seems like a childs game in compare. So for my entire life i have thought of NYC or at least vermont, boston, rhode island to be the same lattitude as southern sweden... or actually i have thought that sweden were furter south than those... but i live very far south in sweden on 56°N and that’s quite a lot furter north than toronto, montreal and winnipeg....
@@Hesperell I was very surprised too. I have spend 1 month every year in south eastern spain... and then when i’ve seen NYC in movies it seems to be about the same climate as my home in sweden (56°N) or at least like London.... i actually though lile southern california, arizona, new mexico, texas and like northern parta Mexico was about the same lattitude as Spain... But then realise that... damn... the only city with more than like 100 000 people in Northern america that lies north of like 52°N is Anchorage and that is still about the same latitude as southern half of sweden and the southern most tips of finland and norway. And i thought anchorage was more like Kiruna in northern sweden.
New York usually gets to the 80's and 90's in the spring and summer, but our weather can vary alot. Plus, we have a lot of surprise rainstorms that last 10 minutes but still cause flooding. For snow, it almost never snows to any significant amount before January (ironic since all Christmas movies in NYC have it snowy as all hell) and the brunt of our snow comes in late January and Febuary.
The 100th Meridian West is considered the delineation of the humid East of the continent and the arid West of the continent. Your Average Annual Precipitation map shows that very nicely.
LA sucks for a short VISIT, but there are such a wide range of types of communities in LA County that there is something that suits everyone. I live in Pasadena and love it. Its more historic, walkable, leafy, and cerebral than stereotypical LA.
A suggesting for those visiting San Francisco in the summer - unlike most of the rest of the state it gets pretty cold here during those months. Locals giggle at tourists shivering in their shorts and flip flops in union square - don’t let this happen to you 😆
As a meteorologist myself, I must say you delineated the US climate superbly. Very nice work!
Thank you!
Best to live in Tijuana and work in San Diego then ‘cause I also just watched the video on what the US-Mexico border is like! But please, it’s best to cross in Tecate - not at San Ysidro or Otay Mesa because those are too crowded for crossing back into the U.S. as a U.S. Citizen. Actually, you would benefit more if you lived in Ensenada than anywhere in the San Diego-Tijuana metropolitan area, but still worked in San Diego, California because while San Diego and Ensenada are nice, Tijuana reportedly has the highest murder rate in the world. Still, even if you crossed via TJ (that’s what a lot of San Diego residents call Tijuana, but even though I’m not originally from there nor have I been there before, I’ve considered moving there from my senior year of high school the day after my 18th birthday), it takes only 2 hours to drive between San Diego and Ensenada as the secure scenic route Mexico 1D from TJ takes just 90 minutes. Best scenario that could ever happen to someone realistically, so I think it’s a win-win! Btw you mentioned humidity and dew point at 8:05 and 9:05 respectively but did you know that dew point is actually a temperature like the air temperature (dry-bulb temperature) and is actually closer to the wet-bulb temperature; the difference is that dew point is based on shade measurements while wet bulb measures how the human body feels in direct sunlight (the most comfortable level of which is around 22C (72F) signifying a mild tropical environment suitable for humans (we collectively are a tropical species preferring warm environments)), plus dew point is useful in humid climates to determine overnight low temperatures. So saying the dew point has to be 50 actually means you DO care that the temperature doesn’t get lower than that because dew point temperature cannot be higher than the air temperature. Btw in case you’re wondering the 1/3 rule is used by scientists to determine the wet bulb from dew point and air temperature and the difference between them, so FL is actually preferable for some because it stays warm in overnight which is all well and good for part of the year, but on the flip side, when it gets cold in Florida, you really feel it. Yes, even if you’re from a state where sub-freezing temperatures are normal in winter.
@@robertjames6890wtf bro
Being such a large landmass, the diversity of geography in just one country is fascinating!
They also at the right latitude as well. Canada isn't that diverse in terms of climate
The varied elevation in terrain also seems to be responsible for a lot of the diversity
Thank you for explaining why the central US gets so many tornadoes. I'd had never heard that about the mountains being oriented N-S versus E-W as in, say, Europe.
im from the us and assumed most mountain ranges were north-south lol
The rockies all rock few trees in the west lots of snow too. the smaller Appalachian chain mountain range near the east coast covered in trees very lush green and other smaller ranges up into upstate new york west of NYC the Catskills.
I accidentally came across this video of yours today. I so wish that I had had you as a teacher in high school because then I would developed an interest in weather back then. Your descriptions and diagrams/maps were really effective in getting the facts across while still making the subject super interesting. I'm really looking forward to watching more of your videos. Thank you!
I really appreciate your comment. I'm glad you liked the video. My degree is in geography with a specialization in climatology so I always enjoy talking about weather stuff.
@@GeographyKing Well, I've always said that despite doing well in school I must have either missed all the geography lessons or learned it for the test and completely forgotten it all. I'm really looking forward to seeing your geography videos too since I know it will be fun, interesting, and informative. Thank you!
I found a class in physical geography in junior college one of the most interesting and memorable of all.
@@GeographyKing Just saw this video. Like you I have an interest in both geography and meteorology. I really appreciate your whole video, especially the part about RELATIVE humidity vs. Dew Points or ABSOLUTE humidity as I was taught to call it as a Metrologist (science of weights and measures). I also appreciate the discussions involving mountain and lake orientation and effects on weather in the USA. Would enjoy similar or more detailed videos. I think people could learn a lot about weather and geographies effects. Or perhaps a second channel for that. With all your travels I am sure you have experienced lots of weather. Oh and LA is not so bad if you don’t mind the smog and all the people already living there! ;-)
You have one of the really unique and informative channels on RUclips. I forwarded your Arizona video to my son, who had just moved to the Phoenix area. He does business demographics analytics for a living, and he was quite impressed. This channel is much more useful than watching dogs and cats entertain humans. Thank you.
I'm glad you like the channel!
As a meteorologist, I really like this video. Everything you said is accurate. Dew point is indeed the best way to judge "humidity". Honestly, relative humidity is a useless number for anyone except for meteorologists. The fact the media always shares the humidity puzzles me.
lmao exactly. A relative humidity of 40% at 70°F is very comfortable, not too dry and certainly not too humid, while a relative humidity of 40% at 100°F is oppressive and almost dangerous.
Interesting I never knew any of this.
Arizona can have dew points of 65F during the summer monsoon. Along with a temp of 100F+
And then there’s Utah, hottish summers, but not muggy like the south and not blazing Arizonas, cold winters with snow, but not too terribly cold, rarely gets to the negatives, and snow rarely goes over a foot, and the spring and fall! The weather is GORGEOUS and it goes on for so long!! It’s June today and still I’d say it’s late spring. I wore a sweater last week.
Spring and fall are my favorite seasons. Utah sounds like NY kind of place, I'm from Cincinnati Ohio, I do like having all the seasons. Its just that Here, spring and fall are only about 8 weeks each, seem to be getting shorter, summers are long hot and very humid, winters about late November to early March. I prefer not to be freezing cold nor Humid and sweating, and thats mostly what we have here. Yesterday , June 1st I was sitting on the porch in the shade, sweating. And this is nothing compared to July and August here, unbearable/ unpleasant.. Hope you have a nice Summer in Utah. ,! Peace and prosperity!
@@ayten3617 Peace and prosperity to you too! Oof, the weather there reminds me a lot of Texas, but probably more winter. Hot and humid is a special experience 😅 I’ve never been to Nee York, but I always assumed it was super cold :0
This taught me so much! I currently live in the U.P. (Upper Peninsula) about 3 miles west of Lake Superior but moved here from central texas I’ve always wondered about many things that you explained so easily! I have two teenage boys in high school, I’m going to suggest this to them. I think they will love it too. Thank you for this GREAT video!
One place that's particularly known for lake-effect precipitation is the Keweenaw Peninsula (a sub-peninsula of the UP, with its main city of Houghton). It sticks out from the larger landmass into L. Superior, so catches a lot of moist air from the lake. It also has some sizable hills, forcing the air upward and the moisture out of it.
Dang, this video was EXCELLENT. I not only learned a ton of stuff I needed to understand America and where to move from where I am in America now, but I also learned a bunch of key principles to engineering questions I have had for a while re: building a water reclamation system for off grid living. Your explanations were concise, dense, and yet crystal clear. Really really good job. I'm so upset youtube doesn't give me more thumbs up to give to you.
Thank you!
You blowing my mind with this dew point thing. I always wondered why other cities felt better than New Orleans despite the fact that the relative humidity was the same. Thank you for continuing to post great educational content!
Having lived in and around Seattle for many years, I whole heartedly agree that the summers in that region are pretty much paradise on earth. The famous gloominess lasts from about October to June, but otherwise it's basically long days of perfect weather over top of ridiculously beautiful scenery.
Yep. June is often rainy. But once you hit mid July, it's glorious!
I live in Canada but my wife is from Eastern Washington. They get really nice weather there. Dry air, no wind to speak of, mild winters, cool nights in summer.
Where in Eastern Washington? I’ve been considering moving to Spokane.
Is the Eastern Washington climate similar to the Oysoyoos valley in BC ?
@@towaritch yes, but warmer and drier.
@@outsideedge43 An hour south of Spokane.
can you do a video about all the native american indian reservations in the US?
What a great idea
Yes. How they should disconnect themselves from federal government "assistance" It destroys initiative and self worth.
This is a video I'd love to see as well
I live in Socal and I am happy I do
Thank you for explaining dew point vs relative humidity! I try to tell people this all the time.
Great video, California’s topography and it’s effect on climate fascinates me! The diurnal range in Pinnacles National Park, for example, is over 50° in July, further inland, Bodie a old ghost town has never had more than 30 days frost free! what a rich and diverse country the USA is.
MAPS:
4:25 Basic Topography
4:50 Average Annual Precipitation
5:23 Tornado Alley
6:29 World Tornadoes
7:08 All (US) Tornadoes 1950-2016
7:20 Average Annual Tornado Watches* per Year
*a 'watch' means only that conditions exist in which a tornado is likely to occur, NOT
that a tornado has been sighted -- that's a tornado warning
8:56 Summer in Vegas chart
9:31 Historical Hurricane Tracks
10:37 Average Annual Snowfall
14:12 Suggested Tactic for Winter Sanity
Can I just say.... I absolutely LOVE your videos! I’m a total geography nerd and I am really into meteorology as well. Most people think I’m weird as hell for it too! And being smart shouldn’t be strange!!! Anyway- love, love, LOVE the videos!!! Keep up the great work!
Thank you very much! I'm glad you like the videos
Don't forget in the Midwest, especially the cornbelt, it can get very humid during July and August because of the corn evapotranspiration. Here in Iowa we get can get dewpoints near 80 degrees with a temp of 95+.
I'm from Cincinnati and its very humid in summer time. For me personally almost unbearable. I like to be able to sit outside in the shade and not sweat like crazy. We get no breeze just hot humid , still air all summer. Even humid while its grey and raining all day in summer.
8:21 I agree. Speaking of dew point I live in Connecticut and the dew point reached an unbearable 78°F.
That's why I love Virginia. You get a little bit of everything. Hot summers, go to the beach in october, snow every so often. Wonderful
I think it's a pretty good compromise between horrible snow hell and hot humid death if you need to live on the east coast.
Possibly my favorite bit of information I've seen/heard from you, so far. I've been watching the shit outta your channel since I found you a few days ago. I really enjoy everything you've got, but as you've mentioned...it's the Climate & Weather which effect SOOOOO much of EVERYTHING we do, feel, think, act, experience, etc....
I'm a fan, good man. Thank you for all your research :D
Thank you! I'm glad you like the videos!
Thank you, Kyle, for 14 minutes of accessible yet detailed description of the land surface system and the climate across the contiguous US. As a fellow geographer, I'm really grateful that you've made these informative and entertaining videos that prove geography is more than "you must know what all the state capitals are." It's unfortunate that RUclips has tagged this video with a "context" warning that seems to imply that your content might or might not be true or accurate. Thanks again for taking the time to provide such a great introduction to what has shaped the US climate over more or less that last 11,000 years and continues to determine the weather Americans see and live every day.
Thanks for this video, I learned a lot. I’m a native of Southern California, in the LA Metro area. Climate is very important to me and weather watching has been a hobby of mine. I can hardly believe how much the weather has changed from the 60’s to the present day. I’d say a Spring day of 70-72 degrees is my favorite kind of day in LA. I get excited when it rains and we sometimes get some thunder and lightening. Sadly, it keeps getting warmer here.
Are you going to head to Nor-Cal like I keep hearing about from people in the basin?
Good old physical geography. This is great! Nice job explaining about the orographic effect and variable temperatures over land and water.
Have you done a video explaining how climate is based on earth-sun relationships and the tilt of the earth on it's axis? I don't think most people know that this is the basis of all climate. Variations in topography are secondary (though, as you point out, extremely important).
I find the climate you have in the US to be super interesting and unlike anything that can be found somewhere else. Im from Sweden and the climate here is very boring for the most part compared to the US. I cant imagine how much nice year round good weather would be. Here, during the "winter" months (basically late october to march) the sun only rises for a couple of hours a day and even when its up there is usually a thick clowd cover that gives everything a greeyish colour. I spent one Christmas in the northernmost part of sweden and I almost didnt see the sun a single time because of how north we were.
Something to add that most don't realize: Seattle can get really hot- 95- 100 deg, usually around July. Inland eastern WA & OR can also get very hot in summer but only for 1-2 mo & isn't humid & gets very cold with a lot of snow & ice in winter. The weather is not like Seattle at all- not humid, not dreary. People think Pacific NW & think Seattle; inland WA is not like that. Central WA is actually a desert. Hot AF! 🥵
I have family up in Rochester. My dad had stories of jumping off the second story roof into the snowdrifts for fun because they would periodically get high enough to cover the first floor windows.
How did he get out?
You make a lot of cense about the weather than the weather man. You made it easy to understand. Thanks.
I find that the most severe weather or the "sweet spot" for any kind of weather is the major northeast cities from DC to Boston including Philadelphia and NYC. This area has seen blizzards, ice storms, heat waves, hurricanes, severe thunderstorms, and even a tornado or two. If you like exciting weather, move to NYC. You'll never get bored of the weather.
The Midwest has all of those except hurricanes
I feel like the Midwest and south have those too but they tend to be worse there
What a well made video. Seriously impressed with how much I just learned in such a short span. Well done sir.
How many climates do you want?
United States: Yes.
(I know this meme is everywhere, but I thought it was worth it this time, lol.)
That historical hurricane chart is crazy. I looked it up and yes there was a hurricane that passed over the driftless region on 9/11 in 1900. Crazy stuff.
Keep posting this awesome cartography and geography stuff man.
This video answered so much for me. Up in New Hampshire we had a 3 foot snowstorm this year, 2021, been over 2 decades since we had a storm like that.
For years I lived just south of Watertown, NY and commuted to Syracuse. Known as the Tug Hill Plateau, it was a terrifying nightmare of blowing snow from Oct-April. Zero visibility.
Great video. I knew bits and pieces of this already, but you tied it together nicely. I had never even thought of the impact of mountain range orientation....east-west vs north-south.
Great video! Growing up near Buffalo NY I learned about lake effect snow storms at a young age. We do get a lot of snow but I still think this is one of the best areas of the country to live. We were in Rockport Texas about 6 months after Hurricane Harvey. I would never want to go through something like that. The devastation was unbelievable! We very rarely get a tornado or earthquake. We don’t have ginormous forest fires either. The winters can be very long though.
Toronto is number 1.
You can't compare two totally different Xtreme weather locations. Everybody knows the weather in Buffalo sucks. I mean everybody even here in the desert of Southern California. And I do know what I'm talking about as I lived in Upstate New York for about five years.
"The Giant Lakes" I am from Akron, OH and I have never heard of "The Giant Lakes". But that was a good explanation of why Erie and Ontario produce so much more snow....
“I believe the climate is the most important aspect of where you live, it affects every aspect of your life...”
😔😔😔 hearing that when you live in the UK is hard
This is one of your best videos. And so far they've been all good.
Thank you!
Even in Costa Rica the Pacific Ocean is colder than the Atlantic Ocean along the Carolinas during the summer.
Love your channel. Please keep educating us about geography
I grew up right between Rochester and Syracuse in a tiny town called Newark. Not even horror movies can accurately depict our winters. I remember having a snow day once when we got like 18 inches of snow over night. It was almost the end of April. Ah, good times. I loved our winters though. Everything became quiet and beautiful. The entire world seemed to shut down for brief periods of time, but we also knew how to live our lives. My parents went to work and I went to school and everything remained functional and okay. It was a great time in my life.
One day this summer it was a beautiful day, high 70s, a few light clouds, just enough breeze to keep any bugs down. My wife said I wish it could be like this all the time. Then I told her, "yah, but then EVERYBODY would want to live here"
That's San Diego weather
I'm looking at the map at 4:25 and it reminds me of driving I80 from Cal to my home in Minnesota. IMO Cal, Nev, Utah, & Wyoming were absolutely beautiful with snow-capped mountain and then I hit Nebraska. Nebraska was just cornfield after cornfields after cornfields, I'm going insane thinking about it.
On the one country car trip I have taken, I found driving through Nebraska ugly and depressing.
@@olyvoyl9382 if you can imagine the road to hell, that’s i80 through Nebraska.
@@Jefff72 you still get snow covered cornfields in Nebraska
Weird how the UK and Ireland are on the same latitude as Central Canada, yet have a climate more similar to that of San Francisco, which is on the same latitude as Southern Italy
@@torivar4838 hello I live in central Europe. The climate here is of Chicago or southern Wisconsin type or coastal New England type ( not exactly but close). The Rome lattitude or Mediterenian climate is much warmer here than in US because between northern Europe and southern Europe there is a location for Alps mountains that work as a natural blocker of northern cold air masses. To some extend the same with Carpatian mountains, the same with Pirenejs ( Spain/France border) or some Balcans mountains. All these mountains are high up much and go throw Europe from east to west direction. The only region that is a little similar to US is east Europe and southern Russia. So Black Sea coast is similar to Virginia and Moscow is maybe like Montreal.
Western Europe is milder compared to the USA or Canada mainly because of the Gulf Stream.
Madrid, Spain is located at the same latitude as New York City
Brussels as Calgary
Amsterdam as Saskatoon
Dublin as Edmonton
@@nautacomio1233 Yes I agree but Gulf Stream affects only western Europe especially Great Britain, northern France, western part of Germany, Denmark, Norway. The more east the less impact of Gulf Stream and believe me for example in central Poland the weather patterns are not the same as for example in Holand. We are having typical winter with snow and freeze down to -15 in Celsius now,the climate here is much more continental. Madrit is settled in different zone, it is subtropical continental something like western Texas
@@tomaszs.9985 Well, I was referring to Western Europe indeed.
I know Eastern Europe is another thing and it has nothing to do with Western European climate.
I live in Madrid so I can tell you that Madrid is not subtropical at all.
Madrid's climate is continentalized Mediterranean.
According to with Köppen classification: Csa-BSk climate.
Believe me, some parts of the Iberian Peninsula Plateau are very used to temperatures down to -15ºC in winter.
Teruel city a couple of weeks ago had -21ºC minimum temperatures.
Thank God we have the Gulf Stream.
There are some cities around the Plateau about 1.000 metres above the Sea Level and without the Stream, they all would be a little Siberia.
@@nautacomio1233 Yes I know exactly that winters in places like Madrit or Salamanca are got into cold air in the winter. But You have hot and long summer. Our polish climate is strange, it is a transitional between continental and maritime with very unstable weather. It is rather cold ( compared to Spain) but not extremely cold. The summer is warm and with cold nights. But the weather changes all the time and is unpredictable because Poland gets warm air especially from Central Asia ( usually nice spring time with 20-25 degrees in Celsius) and ocassionally heat from Sahara and cold from norther west as also from Siberia. Now, the snow has fallen and it is 0 degrees but quite nice with a little snow. Siberia cold air masses dont get to us so hard as did in the past. The flowers outside the house did not become freezed 2019/2020 winter. But this year the winter is much colder. With regards! P.S. I saw plauteau in central Spain in Google and it is beautiful.
this guy is so chill and informative
I live in Erie, PA, we got dumped on with lake effect snow on 12/25/17. Broke a ton of records, and was the most snow I've ever seen in such a short amount of time in my 36 years living here. Lake effect is no joke
The poster before me is a meteorologist ... I am not ... but, I join in his praise. I learned a lot. Save for 4 years in Oregon, for school, I've lived in San Francisco all of my life. Oregon taught me to love the rain. SF has taught me how fortunate I am that I'm not subject to searing heat. And, yes, we have humidity that we can actually SEE, blowing down the street. In the spring of '23, I'm planning a cross-country trip via Amtrak. We don't know, yet, about which routes to take east/west. I'm going to review this video as we get closer to the journey. Thanks.
Great video! I would love to see you do a video about the best places to live in US in next 25-50 years as climate change impacts our communities.
The moisture (or lack of it) coming east from the Rocky's is very evident by watching the farm fields. Lots of irrigation in Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, but as you get into Iowa, Illinois, Indiana it's rare to see a field irrigated. Consistent and fairly even rain throughout the growing season eliminates the need for irrigation.
If I recall, tornado alley is still in the plains, though it has grown, the area down in Mississippi and Alabama is called ‘Dixie alley’ and is completely separate.
As a meteorology major I approve! Great video again king kyle!
Thank you!
On the tornadoes of the Southeast: tornadoes used to be largely a spring phenomenon, but they are getting more frequent, especially in the southeast, in the fall and winter when they used to be rare.
Good ol' Dixie Alley! We will Rise up and beat Tornado Alley!
(we can't even have basements in the gulf coast)
Great video. Very informative. I love your page!
Love it. You answered a lot of my questions about the correlation between the weather in the us and Australia. Keep it up.
Here in Santa Fe, NM we have beautiful winters. Sunny and chilly with the occasional chance of snow. But the real precipitation happens during monsoon season which is in the summer. So a little bit different than most of the country. Dry winters and wet summers.
This was fantastic! I think an interesting topic (at least for me) would be a video on the crazy hot winds that blow down the slopes of some mountains--The Chinooks, Santa Ana's, Scirocco, etc. They have an amazing affect geographically as well as psychologically.
IMO, I think the Pacific NW has the best overall climate in the US for people who like to have nice weather, but without the intense heat or overwhelming humidity during summer.
-Not as hot or dry as California, not as hot and humid as the southeast, not as cold as the midwest, not as cold, hot, and humid as northeast, and not as hot and dry as the southwest.
-Doesn't have as many of the crazy weather as other areas too, like hurricanes and tornadoes. Our biggest risks are volcanoes (almost nothing to fear in 90% of the PNW cities), wildfires (not as big of a threat to the major cities in most normal years), and the big earthquake (which is very likely never to come in our lifetimes anyway). I'd rather take these over the much higher likelihood of earthquakes in California or Oklahoma, tornadoes, flooding, sinkholes, rising sea levels, or hurricanes.
-We get all of the good traits from around the US: warm, but not too hot or humid summers, not too cold winters, fall colors (seasons), lots of snow in the mountains (current world record spot for snow depth is in Washington on Mt Baker, and previously on Mt Rainier), relatively no snow down in the valley, and long spring seasons for prolonged flower blooms. Soil never gets as cold, so growing plants is easier. The PNW has the best growing conditions for growing a very wide variety of horticultural plants in the US.
-We also have almost every kind of terrain/biome imaginable: temperate rainforest, dry forests, alpine environments, desert, mountains, all the different types of volcanoes (composite, shield, caldera, spatter, cinder, fissure, flood basalts...), canyons, islands, large beaches, rugged coastline, some of the tallest trees in the world, massive glaciers (WA with more than any other state outside of Alaska), and lava beds. Many of these places are within a couple hours drive too. If you only ever traveled around the PNW your entire life, you would never grow tired of it. There is just so much variety. Not to say that you shouldn't ever travel elsewhere though.
But it constantly rains...
Your biased. It’s depressingly dreary in the winter spring and fall.
I agree. I've lived in several parts of the US but love the PNW weather the most. This summer has been incredible and when I've had visitors from other states they're amazed that we can sit outside eating dinner in the evening without constantly swatting insects. And still light enough at 10pm. Winter is fine by me also. That's why parkas were invented!
Beware the Cascadia Subduction Zone though!
Always have been intrigued by the north west. Even tho ive never been, something about it has always caught my attention since i was little, my aunt use to tell me stories of her travels and its her favorite place shed ever been, how beautiful it is in that part of the world..
Being from Cincinnati Ohio I always wanted to move to Pacific NW.!
My Favorite season is spring and fall, and those are our shortest seasons, usually only lasting no more than 2 months each. I like rain and cloudy gray days. Our summers here are so humid with no breeze. Just sitting on the porch I was drenched the other day that was end of may.. . mid July here is just not pleasant, even in the shade, or if its raining and grey in summer, its still humid. Winters are average I guess here, can be cold from End of November - early march seems like we've been getting less snow in recent years, dryer winters.. Then comes spring which is beautiful, but seems to come and go so fast anymore. Then long hot humid summers, then fall might be a little longer than spring but once it ends its transition from fall to winter happens swifty.
Disagree. San Francisco Peninsula has the mildest climate in the country. It is a right balance between Pacific NW chilly and LA sunny. Not only is it slightly cold in summers, it is usually very sunny in winters as it gets less rains.
Thank you so much for this video! I've rewinded and rewatched it so many times, I'm just fascinated with climates and geography, this answered a lot of questions I've had.
Granted the snow belts are heavier in upstate NY than what you get along Lakes Michigan and Superior. However the snow depth totals for the North and West side of lower Michigan are substantially enhanced with places like Maple City and Gaylord getting approx 150 inches of snow each winter. In the Upper peninsula it is even worse as Lake Superior is a more west to east lake and really dumps heavy loads of snow in the northern 3/4 of the UP. Places like Houghton and Ishpeming can and normally exceed 200 inches of snow per winter. So I guess everything is relative.
@Michael Hillman..I strongly agree with you on what you said ..Hope you don’t mind if we get to to know more about each other off here?????
I used to work with a woman who was born and raised in Hancock, Michigan. She told me that when she was a teenager, they got some snow in June one year.
@@laurencegray4720 not surprising. Hancock is located on The Keewanaw Peninsula which is the “ rabbitt’s ear that extends north into Lake Superior. Being surrounded by water and that far north The Keewanaw is virtually inundated with lake effect snow constantly in the winter.
Yes thank you. She did show me where Hancock is located.
Good video this was an interesting topic thanks for the video enjoyed it.
Thanks. I've always been fascinated by meteorology and specialized in climatology when in college. I edited out a few parts of the video that got pretty technical into meteorology but always love studying it.
I'm so happy to grow up between alabama and florida. The tornados suck and the hurricanes but the warm weather and thunderstorms are a blessing. A rainy night in alabama or florida makes u sleep better then u will ever sleep in ur life.
Very interesting and informative! I always wondered why Midwest had tornadoes....
Tornadoes are super scary to have happen nearby. Way more scary than earthquakes. You were right in the thick of it in 1989 right?
Geography King I want a state with cool 60 degree weather that can still support 4 season growing and perennial gardens.
I’ve lived in Maryland my whole life and it’s hell here. When I was a kid, it used to be tolerable and nice. But global warming has made it hell.
Sounds like I have to pay attention to the wind belt maps of the US.
@SLAMO You live in coastal Alaska?
@SLAMO gotcha. Cool. Well thank you, I’ll definitely take a look at coastal Alaska.
Kansas has an awful climate. Makes you tough, though.
I think this is your best video by far.
“A tornado is the atmosphere throwing up” …………..brilliant!
If you want a little bit of everything, but nothing extreme. I find that Virginia has the best climate.
opposite of Washington. When it’s cold, it’s damn cold. When it’s hot. It’s so damn hot
Especially the Hampton Roads area.
@@Indigolily80 that’s actually the part of Virginia I’d least agree with.
Live in VA and I agree. Humidity can be a bitch tho
@@brendanharan4501 agree from The DC area
This information helped me research where I want to live. Thank you.
Living in western Oregon I can say that Summers in the PNW are wonderful. It's true that it doesn't rain as much in Summer (usually) but when it does its usually after a heatwave. August is prime time for thunderstorms as well. ⛈
I grew up in Big Bear Calif, and have been living in the mtns of Rio de Janeiro state for 20 yrs, a place called Petrópolis, where the big flash flood destroyed so much last week. My house sits at 3,000ft in the forest and the temp. goes from 32°-90° with lots of rain, mostly drizzle and fog, all yr. But the city spreads from the wet southern plateau to the dry northern foothills. While at sea level coconuts and mangoes fruit well up here they won´t produce fruit but avocados and bananas thrive. Being from the US and having spent 3 yrs in Charlottesville VA I wanted fall colors in fall and no obstruction of sun in winter time so I planted several varieties of plane trees, which have real challenges with mistletoe and leaf-cutting ants but fit well with the bromeliads and orchids that cling onto everything and give a show in the winter set among the leafless branches. The sweetgums are ruthless so they´re perfect for this region, and now I´m experimenting with pin oaks and elms. I often think that our dry winters recall a coastal Calif. climate and our humid summers an Appalachian one. Demographically it´s also interesting that the city was the imperial seat for Brazil, along with Rio and was settled by Germans, Italians, Portuguese, mulattoes and some Japanese, so when you add all this together you don´t really know where you are! Anyway Brazil´s southern and southeastern coast is full of these plateaus where there´s frost enough for the native monkey puzzle trees to grow and where, like this summer, we haven´t seen the sun pretty much since Oct. Check it out some time, you might find it interesting. Keep up the great videos, I´m learning a lot!!!
I remember going for a run at my uncle's house down in Virginia one morning. I thought that because it was 75 degrees, it would be okay. It was 100% humidity.
Love your videos. You're so genuine and passionate about the US. Cheers
I’ve worked with Boomers for the past 7 years since I entered the workforce and I can confidently say that the weather is their favorite topic of small conversation.
I’m 27 and the weather is one of my greatest passions and could talk about it all day. Some people just enjoy the little things in life
The coast of Chile is basically is just the opposite of North America's pacific coast. Temperate rainforests on the outer areas and as you move closer to the equator it gets drier and even extremely dry as in northern Mexico and the Atacama desert.
Way to go, Geography King. Watching you is like learning Latin root words. We learn the underlying knowledge that explains so much.
I take the southeast heat and humidity any day over the cold winter I have to deal with in Wisconsin but the summers are nice.
I just discovered your videos today and I'm binge watching.
I'm glad you found the channel and like the videos!
Howdy Geography King 🤴🏽
Howdy!
Thanks for that! I learned about hurricanes and snow, and also what is a 'dew point'!
You jumped straight from the Pacific coast to the Great Plains. No discussion of the rest of the western U.S.? Maybe you can do a similar video discussing this area.
Best weather video pretty much ever
Thank you!
Much more interesting than I thought it would be. You are very knowledgeable. One thing I want to mention, and this is probably the best place to do this as much as anywhere, but on tv and every report on "global warming" (just call it what it really is, planet destruction) every time they have to tell you how much the weather is changing. But they're wrong on some of it. Its changing here, cleveland area, but its going the opposite way. Summers are cooler, winters are warmer and less snow. I wondered if you have any explanation for this.
I'm in Cincinnati and it seems that spring and fall have been getting shorter and shorter. While less over all snow days in the winters. Summers are hot n humid.
Somehow, just somehow, the planet has (not) been destroyed over the past 4 billion years . . .
Actually, you can be as far north as the MA/VT and MA/NH state lines and it still may as well be GA in the summer, at least if you are more than 20 miles inland.
Love your videos. Thank you for taking the time.
In the florida panhandle, we see a “monsoon” season in the summer - peaking in July, and a dry season in the fall- peaking in October. Then the cold season starts in December and lasts through February where it regularly gets to a “freezing” 50°F. Pretty Tropical here and when it rains it pours down but most of the time its sunny.
Dynamite stuff. Logical, once you've explained it. Really enjoyed this. Thank you.
This was a great video. I’m pretty sure this answered just about every question I have ever wondered about weather and climate in the us.
Weather and climate. The importance cannot be over-stated. I love meteorology. I studied it in college along with the other earth sciences. Great video!
I live in Southern Maine where we get snowy and cold winters, super rainy springs and falls, and even though most people don’t know it, we get pretty hot summers (particularly brutal over the recent years especially - around 100 in late July with insane humidity). also summers are usually not particularly dry or wet but we get lots of thunderstorms then
Three years ago I bought a house in the Eastern Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Being from South Eastern Michigan I am used to a lot of humidity and days on end of cloudiness. The Eastern UP has more days of sun and a much lower dew point than most of Michigan. Why? It is basically a narrow “strip” of land between two huge lakes (Lake Superior and Lake Michigan). I have often taken friends to swim in three of the Great Lakes in a single day. Those being Great Lakes Superior, Michigan and Huron. Actually it is quite easy and can be done in just a few hours. Guess what I am doing on my 55th birthday?
Very nicely explained, terms we've heard mentioned in media brought to life.
We have something for everyone. Personally, I love the 4 seasons, lived in SF for 15 years and got homesick fur the northeast every summer and winter. Coastal weather in California is boring. I live in NYC, love the variety of weather here. Did you know that NYC and Boston get more precipitation than Seattle, but it's spread out evenly over the year.
The maps and satellite images are amazing. Great work!
I lived in Tacoma, WA for six years and when I first arrived there, my father in law told me a "PNW" expression. "The mountain is out today!" I was there a week before I understood what he was saying. I just landed a job and I had to be there for my first day, one June morning and as I was trying to navigate a new cities traffic, I got stuck at a red light and I looked to my right and THERE WAS MOUNT RAINIER!!!!!!!! Point being, it was June and I hadn't even noticed Mt. Rainier yet! I had seen so many pictures of it, but as they say, " pictures do it no justice!" And they were right. It literally took my breath away!
About 12 years ago we had a day in January where it got up to 70° F. This is in SE Wisconsin. I was outside the house and it sound like a freight train. A minute later the sirens went off. Yah, we had a tornado in January. We also occasionally get thunder during snow storms.
When it is that warm here in Arkansas during the winter, we start expecting to have a tornado.
@@laurencegray4720
Temperatures in the 60s or 70s are not entirely unheard of here during the winter. Just highly unusual. They require a very strong weather system moving north from the Gulf coast that does not encounter a cold front of any great strength. Normally when we get strong fronts moving up from the Gulf we get snow.
We usually have warmer weather when the wind is from the south (as in Louisiana) or the southwest (Texas). The surrounding states frequently share their weather with us whether or not we want their weather.
@@laurencegray4720
I feel your pain, sort of. I've known a number of people who retired, moved South and were back two years later. Two main reasons are "the grandchildern" and the summers. Two words related to weather I really dread a "polar vortex".
One thing that for me as a european is intresting about northen american climate is how different it is to the european climate. Often it’s easy to think about ”lattitude” as a guide for climate where the sam distance from the equator is a similar climate.. and in many cases that’s kinda true... but not when we look at europe and north america.
New york city... that’s the same lattitude as Madrid... quite different climate there cause most parts of spain equals the climate of los angeles and like texas.
From my experiense it seems like snow is quite common in NYC during winter right? Or at least if we go to toronto in canada... well... non of those places are anywhere near the 56°N. I live on 56°N... we don’t get much snow... some years we get snow but mostly no snow at all... infact.. in europe you have to go almost all the way up to the polar circle to really get a similar winter climate as most of canada has. But where i live the climate in general equals NYC, or a little bit furter south... during winter it barely breaks the 0°C, and if it does it rarely drops under -5°C and in summer we get like 20-25°C. Quite humid all year round... rainy... we can get heat waves with up to 30° or a tiny bit higher and that’s torture with our humidity... going down to spain 40°C seems like a childs game in compare.
So for my entire life i have thought of NYC or at least vermont, boston, rhode island to be the same lattitude as southern sweden... or actually i have thought that sweden were furter south than those... but i live very far south in sweden on 56°N and that’s quite a lot furter north than toronto, montreal and winnipeg....
Growing up in Connecticut, I remember being very surprised to discover we were at the same latitude as Spain.
@@Hesperell
I was very surprised too. I have spend 1 month every year in south eastern spain... and then when i’ve seen NYC in movies it seems to be about the same climate as my home in sweden (56°N) or at least like London.... i actually though lile southern california, arizona, new mexico, texas and like northern parta Mexico was about the same lattitude as Spain...
But then realise that... damn... the only city with more than like 100 000 people in Northern america that lies north of like 52°N is Anchorage and that is still about the same latitude as southern half of sweden and the southern most tips of finland and norway.
And i thought anchorage was more like Kiruna in northern sweden.
New York usually gets to the 80's and 90's in the spring and summer, but our weather can vary alot. Plus, we have a lot of surprise rainstorms that last 10 minutes but still cause flooding. For snow, it almost never snows to any significant amount before January (ironic since all Christmas movies in NYC have it snowy as all hell) and the brunt of our snow comes in late January and Febuary.
It's due to Ocean currents
Europe gets warm air off the Atlantic the Eastern US gets cold air off the the continent
The 100th Meridian West is considered the delineation of the humid East of the continent and the arid West of the continent. Your Average Annual Precipitation map shows that very nicely.
As a Floridian in South Florida, I hearby claim the worst climate in the country.
LA sucks for a short VISIT, but there are such a wide range of types of communities in LA County that there is something that suits everyone. I live in Pasadena and love it. Its more historic, walkable, leafy, and cerebral than stereotypical LA.
A suggesting for those visiting San Francisco in the summer - unlike most of the rest of the state it gets pretty cold here during those months. Locals giggle at tourists shivering in their shorts and flip flops in union square - don’t let this happen to you 😆