USDA zone maps

15 years ago

Some of us-not me-live in zones rated similarly to places way to the south of us.

Sometimes/most cases-this is because of proximity to water.

For instance NYC or even certain areas in Michigan,etc-

may be rated(USDA Zone maps)similarly to southern Mo/North Carolina.

So technically you could live in a place that is rated to

be a warmer zone then a lower rated zone that actually

has warmer avg temps!

The question is-???Would you trade away some of your milder

winter lows in a place like Detroit/Attleboro-for example-

(I realize these climates are not exactly similar) for a quicker

warmup in spring or just plain old warmer spring/summer/fall weather???.

Another example:

Attleboro Mass(6a)/ Fairfield Iowa(5a)

highs/lows----- highs/lows

J-37/20 ----- J32/13

F-39/23 ----- F38/19

M-48/30 ----- M51/29

A-58/39 ----- A64/40

M-69/49 ----- M75/51

J-77/58 ----- J84/60

J-83/64 ----- J88/65

A-81/63 ----- A85/63

S-73/55 ----- S78/54

O-63/43 ----- O66/43

N-52/35 ----- N49/31

D-42/26 ----- D36/18

An example of what I mean,look at Jan here(Fairfield)

we are 7F colder for lows but in June we are

7F warmer for highs-on avg.

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Comments (5)

jimhardy
Original Author
15 years ago
Same zones this time.
chadec7a
15 years ago
If I move, it will be to the southeast until I hit water. But I don't see leaving N.C. Just want to live on beach! But the winter coldness to me is the determining factor.
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jimhardy
Original Author
15 years ago
To me there is a big difference between your zone 7
and NYC zone 7,maybe something like njoasis pointed out (where
they take days over 80F etc(???) into consideration) would work.

It would be easy for another map system to get complicated way fast!
User
15 years ago
Locally, our summers are warm enough for such subtropicals as Magnolia grandiflora, Crape Myrtles, and Needle Palms. Early Spring can be really crappy though (rainy, raw and cloudy weather) because of cold off shore water temps. 'Spring' seems like the shortest season with a rapid transition into hot and humid weather. Best season is the Fall which tends to be sunny, mild, dry and long. Another gardening consideration (aside from absolute lows, and heat zones (average number of days above 86 F.), is the frost-free season. So while I'm not thrilled with cold Marches and sometimes chilly Aprils--frost free weather continues until LATE in the year and the average number of frost-free days is over 200.--I had my Queen palms out until early December last year and can recall seeing geraniums and impatients in bloom in backyard gardens in NYC also into December.--I might add that after the past year which featured an incredibly LONG, HOT, AND DRY summer and an equally awful COLD and SNOWY Winter, I do consider the benefits of life in a less extreme climate.
jimhardy
Original Author
15 years ago
Interesting-sounds like Trachys would like it most of the time!