AirTalk.org Aviation discussions newsgroups   Archives   FAQ   Search   Memberlist   Usergroups   Register   Profile   Log in to check your private messages   Log in  Weather differences between the two coasts          AirTalk.org Forum Index -> Aviation (Students) View previous topic :: View next topic   Author Message Little Endian Guest Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2007 4:01 am    Post subject: Weather differences between the two coasts This could be deemed off-topic but I was wondering why it gets so cold on the Atlantic side of the USA compared to the Pacific side in the winters. Given the frigid waters of the Pacific compared to the warmer Atlantic, it is surprising to me that Boston gets much colder than Seattle even though both cities are at comparable latitudes. What contributes to the cold weather on the Atlantic side? Back to top Doug Palmer Guest Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2007 4:31 am    Post subject: Re: Weather differences between the two coasts Oversimplified, much of the weather in Seattle is influenced by the warmer Japanese ocean currents coming up from the equator, While much of Bostons weather is influenced by cold artic air coming down from Canada. Bostons weather is actually moderated somewhat by the warm atlantic, of course take warm damp air moving up the east coast from the tropics and mix that with the cold air coming down from the artic and you get some humdinger storms. Quote: This could be deemed off-topic but I was wondering why it gets so cold on the Atlantic side of the USA compared to the Pacific side in the winters. Given the frigid waters of the Pacific compared to the warmer Atlantic, it is surprising to me that Boston gets much colder than Seattle even though both cities are at comparable latitudes. What contributes to the cold weather on the Atlantic side? Back to top Little Endian Guest Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2007 6:13 am    Post subject: Re: Weather differences between the two coasts Quote: What contributes to the cold weather on the Atlantic side? Canada. ) Yeah, but the same question applies to Vancouver and Toronto. Back to top john smith Guest Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2007 6:13 am    Post subject: Re: Weather differences between the two coasts In article <1177282882.024945.271410 (AT) l77g2000hsb (DOT) googlegroups.com>, Little Endian <girish.pai (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote: Quote: What contributes to the cold weather on the Atlantic side? Canada. ) Back to top Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe Guest Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 2:06 am    Post subject: Re: Weather differences between the two coasts "Little Endian" <girish.pai (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote in message news:1177291841.576752.196560 (AT) q75g2000hsh (DOT) googlegroups.com... Quote: What contributes to the cold weather on the Atlantic side? Canada. ) Yeah, but the same question applies to Vancouver and Toronto. And the answer is "northern Canada". Remember, weather moves from left to right across the US and Canada. -- Geoff The Sea Hawk at Wow Way d0t Com remove spaces and make the obvious substitutions to reply by mail When immigration is outlawed, only outlaws will immigrate. Back to top Ron Garret Guest Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 9:31 pm    Post subject: Re: Weather differences between the two coasts In article <462c09a2$0$1377$4c368faf (AT) roadrunner (DOT) com>, john smith <johnsmith (AT) net (DOT) net> wrote: Quote: In article <1177282882.024945.271410 (AT) l77g2000hsb (DOT) googlegroups.com>, Little Endian <girish.pai (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote: What contributes to the cold weather on the Atlantic side? Canada. ) That's actually not so far from the truth. Quote: Given the frigid waters of the Pacific compared to the warmer Atlantic.. It's true that the Atlantic is warmer than the Pacific, but the prevailing winds blow from west to east. So Boston gets Canada's weather while Seattle gets ocean weather. Water has a much higher heat capacity than land, so oceans tend to keep the temperature constant. That's why Seattle -- and San Diego -- are both cooler than Boston in the summers too. rg Back to top Highflyer Guest Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2007 6:13 am    Post subject: Re: Weather differences between the two coasts "Gary" <f7768 (AT) aol (DOT) com> wrote in message news:1177338593.261468.93010 (AT) p77g2000hsh (DOT) googlegroups.com... Quote: On Apr 22, 7:31 pm, "Doug Palmer" <shitm...@mindspring.com> wrote: Oversimplified, much of the weather in Seattle is influenced by the warmer Japanese ocean currents coming up from the equator, While much of Bostons weather is influenced by cold artic air coming down from Canada. Bostons weather is actually moderated somewhat by the warm atlantic, of course take warm damp air moving up the east coast from the tropics and mix that with the cold air coming down from the artic and you get some humdinger storms. I believe the Japanese current actually comes down from the north along the west coast of North America, and it's considered a cold- water current. I suspect it still plays a role in moderating the weather in Seattle and elsewhere on the left coast. On the east coast, the gulf stream comes up from the equator and it's reasonably warm, but I think the cold air from Canada is the more important effect in explaining Boston's weather (the gulf stream is usually very far offshore at that latitude, anyway.) Gary The Japanese current comes out of the China Sea and is a WARM current. Like the gulf stream in the atlantic it flows north and then east ending with a southerly flow. The Japanese current flows past Japan, along the southern side of the Aleutian chain and then turns down the coast along the Alaska peninsula and down past Seattle and southward. It brings warm weather to southern Alaska and the pacific northwest. It also brings lots of rain and fog. In the Atlantic the gulf stream flows out of the gulf of Mexico and flows northeast along the coast and veers to the east when it meets the cold Labrador current coming out of the straits between Labrador and Greenland. It raises the winter temperatures if western Ireland high enough that you can see palm trees growing in Connemara. It keeps Ireland, Britain, and Brittany warm and wet in the winter. Find a book about ocean currents and surface and deep currents. There is a lot of water moving around as the world turns! 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