Geotrivia

Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, is arguably an attempted clone of jolly old England. How does it compare in latitude with, say, London?

London (51.510939, -0.126423) is more than 200 miles (320 km) further north than Victoria (48.429074, -123.365744). Victoria is a little south of the latitude of Paris.

So, what does England line up with in the contiguous United State?

Nothing. The southernmost point of England, in the Isles of Scilly (49.863444, -6.400884), is about the same latitude as Campbell River, British Columbia (50.024343, -125.282589), or Garibaldi Provincial Park (49.914004, -122.751321). Further east, it lines up with Winnipeg, Manitoba (49.876143, -97.142472). This is more than 150 miles (240 km) north of even the odd jut the US border makes north at Lake of the Woods (49.384471, -95.153387).

The northernmost point of England, on the border with Scotland (55.810209, -2.036247), is 80 miles (128 km) north of the southernmost point of the Alaska panhandle (54.662193, -132.684565), so this is the only overlap between England and the USA, far southeast Alaska. Unless you count the Aleutian Islands (southernmost point: 51.215139, -179.130465), which actually dip a little further south than the M25 ring road around London (51.258421, -0.083643).

Which is further north? Medford, Oregon, far south in the state, near the California border? Or Medford, Massachusetts, in the vicinity of Boston, in chilly New England?

The two towns are at practically the same latitude. The center of Medford, Oregon (42.339493, -122.860266) is only about 6 miles (10 km) south of the center of Medford, Massachusetts (42.424104, -71.107897), so close their outskirts would overlap.

Which is further north? Portland, Oregon, with its mild, almost Mediterranean climate? Or Portland, Maine, on the icy rockbound shore?

Portland, Oregon (45.524255, -122.650313), is about 125 miles (200 km) further north than Portland, Maine (43.659443, -70.267838), which lines up on the Oregon coast with mild, green, foggy Reedsport (43.703852, -124.103028).

What does Maine line up with on the West Coast? Surely, feels like it must be Alaska!

No, the furthest north point of Maine (47.459851, -69.224461), lines up with the Southcenter freeway interchange of I-5 and I-405 (47.462883, -122.265114), in the southern part of the greater Seattle metropolitan area.

Why are west coasts so much milder than east coasts?

This is oversimplified, but: Equatorial winds push warmed ocean water from the east, which sets the major ocean basins into great gyres, clockwise in the northern hemisphere, counterclockwise in the southern. Winds in the mid-latitudes are from the west, so as they pass over the warmed water brought poleward by the gyres, the air picks up heat and carries it to the first continent it meets. Since the winds at these latitudes are generally from the west, the warmed air will come on to western shores. There are complexities beyond that, but that’s basically it.