Way up here in The County, we are closer to the North Pole than we are to the Equator, though not by much! The halfway point, latitude 45 degrees north, passes through the Washington County town of Perry, where they have a really nice roadside marker that’s worth stopping to check out if you’re ever passing through! Presque Isle’s latitude is just shy of 46.7 degrees North.
Now, while latitude tells you how far north or south you are, not all similar latitudes are alike with respect to their climate! You see, Western Europe is bathed in air moderated by the eastward-flowing Gulf Stream, that warm current of water in the western Atlantic Ocean, which flows north and east, parallel to the East Coast of the United States, before turning toward Western Europe. This current of warm water really moderates their climate, as winters there would be far more harsh were it not for the Gulf Stream.
London is a perfect example. London’s latitude is a bit more than 51.5 degrees north, and again, Presque Isle is a shade less than 46.7 degrees north. If we expressed that difference in miles, London is a good 300 miles farther north than Presque Isle, but due to the warming effects of the Gulf Stream, London has a much gentler winter than we in Aroostook County do.
The proof is right in the averages. Caribou’s coldest average high temperature, which occurs in mid January is 19. London’s coldest average high is 45!
Caribou averages 108 inches of snow per year, while London averages only 18.
There are many accounts of Europeans who expected a similar climate in “The New World”, only to be overwhelmed by the severity of the North American winters!
Ted Shapiro holds the Broadcast Seal of Approval from both the American Meteorological Society and the National Weather Association. An Alexandria, Va. native, he has been chief meteorologist at WAGM-TV since 2006. Email him at tshapiro@wagmtv.com.
