43rd Parallel North

43rd North

Grand Rapids and Flint are two Michigan cities that are near the 43^rd parallel north. I used the 43^rd as I live at 43.05 north The elevation is 640.  This week I will look at several cities around the world that are at the same distance from the equator and the north pole as we are and see how we all differ. While it is true that some are near the ocean and thus have a more maritime climate. But it will show that different locations even at the same latitude have some similar and some different climate results. The cities that I am going to look at are Grand Rapids, Flint, Toulouse France, Marseille France, Sarajevo Bosnia, Sukhumi Georgia (country not the US state), Changchun China, Urumqi China, and Boise Idaho

Grand Rapids. The city of Grand Rapids given a latitude of 42.57 north as I stated I live at 43.05 north. At Grand Rapids the annual mean temperature is 49.0° The warmest month is July with a mean of 72.5 and the coldest month is January with a mean of 24.4 The record high is 108 and the record low is -24. The current average snow fall is 74.9” And on average there is 38.27” of total precipitation. Flint latitude is 43.01 north elevation is 751 Their annual mean is 47.3 and their average snow fall is 47.4” on average 31.97” of total precipitation falls.  Flints record high is also 108 and there record low is -25. The record snow fall there is 85.3.” Grand Rapids is warmer, wetter and snowier on average than Flint.

Toulouse France 43° 16’ north. Toulouse is in the south of France about Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Like most locations at and near the 43^rd July is the warmest month with a mean of 22.3C (72.1F) And January is the coldest month but much warmer than GR with a mean of 5.9C (41.6F) The record high is 105F and the record low is -3F on average there is 25.13” of precipitation. There is no mention of snowfall. So in the summer Toulouse is very similar to GR BUT the winters are much warmer.

Marseille France 43° 17’ and is in SE France on the Mediterranean. The area has mild winters with moderate rainfall and hot, mostly dry summers. The July mean is 77F and the January mean is 45. The record high is 103F and the record low is +2F. There is a average of 20.30” of rain with most falling in the fall and winter. Marseille is warmer than GR in both the summer and winter.

Sarajevo Bosnia 43° 53’ Sarajevo’s climate exhibits four seasons the mountains to the south of the city greatly reduce this maritime influence. The highest recorded temperature was 40.7 °C (105 °F).The lowest recorded temperature was −26.2 °C (−15.2 °F) Winters and summers are rather similar to GR. While snow fall there every winter there is no mention as to how much.

Sukhumi Georgia 43°00’ north. Sukhumi has mild winters with the average high/low in January of 50/360F and a average July H/L of 80/66F so here the simmers are similar but winters are much warmer on average. The area receives about the same amount of precipitation as we do with a reported 47.2”

Changchun China 43°53’ north. Changchun lies in the middle portion of the NE plains of China. Changchun has a four-season, monsoon-influenced Winters are long cold, and windy, but dry. January mean temperature of −14.7 °C (5.5 °F) Summers are hot and humid July averages 23.2 °C (73.8 °F). Snow is usually light during the winter. And annual rainfall is heavily concentrated from June to August. The record high is 100F and the record low is -34F.

Urumqi China 43° 49’ north. Urumqi is the largest city in western China. And at about 1600 miles from the nearest coast line it is reported most remote city from any sea in the world. And that causes very large temperature differences between summer and winter. With a July daily average of 23.7 °C (74.7 °F) January daily average of −12.6 °C (9.3 °F) The record high is 108F and the record low is -43F It is rather dry with just 11.27” of rain and snow.

And now back in the US for Boise Idaho 43° 57’ north. Boise experiences hot and dry summers with about 8 days a year of 100 or better. And over 50 days of 90 or better.  Winters are moderately cold with lows falling to 0 or below about 3 night a year. The record high is 111 and the record low is -25.

So that is a little trip around the world at a latitude near the 43^rd parallel. You can see that we have summers that are mostly connected to our latitude and winters are more determined as to how far one is from the sea.

Slim