US Climate PDF

Climate Climatically, the US is quite diverse, ranging from the lush islands of Hawaii to semi-arid desert in the southwest. These diverse physical conditions have enabled North America to have a wide variety of natural resources, but have also contributed to significant regional differences. As yo...

Climate Climatically, the US is quite diverse, ranging from the lush islands of Hawaii to semi-arid desert in the southwest. These diverse physical conditions have enabled North America to have a wide variety of natural resources, but have also contributed to significant regional differences. As you increase in latitude north, the temperature decreases and as you travel west to east, the precipitation increases.​ ​ So, California, on the west coast, is relatively warm and dry, while Florida on the east coast is hot and wet. If you live in the United States, which climate zone do you live in? If you don’t live in the U.S. find the climate zone where a friend or family member lives. Figure it out by looking at this map:  United States Climate – Click on the image if you want to see it full-size. The main influence on U.S. weather is the polar jet stream which migrates northward into Canada in the summer months, and then southward into the US in the winter months. The jet stream brings in large low pressure systems from the northern Pacific Ocean that enter the US mainland over the Pacific Northwest. The Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada, and Rocky Mountains pick up most of the moisture from these systems as they move eastward. Greatly diminished by the time they reach the High Plains, much of the moisture has been sapped by the orographic effect as it is forced over several mountain ranges. Orographic effect is just a fancy word for rain shadow. Once it moves over the Great Plains, uninterrupted flat land allows it to reorganize and can lead to major clashes of air masses. In addition, moisture from the Gulf of America is often drawn northward. When combined with a powerful jet stream, this can lead to violent thunderstorms, especially during spring and summer. Sometimes during winter these storms can combine with another low pressure system as they move up the East Coast and into the Atlantic Ocean, where they intensify rapidly. These storms are known as Nor’easters and often bring widespread, heavy rain, wind, and snowfall to New England. The uninterrupted grasslands of the Great Plains also lead to some of the most extreme climate swings in the world.