Weather is what the air is doing today. Climate is the usual weather of a place over many years. A country as big as the United States has many climates.
Key idea
The Southeast has hot, humid summers and mild winters. The North and Midwest have cold, snowy winters. The Southwest is dry. The Pacific Northwest coast is mild and rainy, and coastal California has dry summers and rainy winters. Hawaii is tropical, and much of Alaska is very cold.
Why it works
What sets a place's climate? Four big things: how far it is from the equator (farther means colder), how high it is (higher means colder), how close it is to an ocean (oceans keep coasts mild), and where mountains block or wring out rain. Earth & Space explains these climate factors in depth.
Worked example: Read a climograph
On a climograph, the bars are tall in winter and almost empty in summer, and the line never drops below freezing. What kind of place is it?
- Winter rain and dry summers is the Mediterranean pattern.
- Mild all year means it is near the ocean.
- In the United States, that fits coastal California.
Answer: Coastal California.
Common mistake
People think the farther south you go, the hotter it always is. Latitude matters, but so do oceans and height. San Francisco has cool summers because cold ocean water and fog cool the coast. Denver, a mile high, is colder than lower places at the same latitude. Mountain towns can have snow while nearby valleys are warm.