Question

The cities of Portland, Oregon, and Minneapolis, Minnesota, are at about the same latitude, but Minneapolis has much hotter summers and much colder winters than Portland. Why?

Answer 1

Minneapolis has hotter summers and colder winters because it is under the influence of continental air masses, while Portland is under influence of oceanic air masses.

Explanation:

Minneapolis and Portland are two cities in the United States, and they roughly are on the same latitude. Despite this, the climate differs greatly between the two. The main reason for this is the location of the cities, with Portland being a coastal city, while Minneapolis being located deep into the interior.

Portland's climate is mild, with the summers being fresh, and the winters not very cold. It also has lot of precipitation all year around. This is due to the influence of the warm ocean currents that bring in warmer and wet air masses.

Minneapolis, on the other side, has much more extreme climate, with the summers being very hot and the winters very cold. The summers are also dry, while the winters bring in lot of snow. This is due to the influence of the continental air masses, which in summer manage to rich much higher temperatures, while in winter there i formation of extremely cold air masses.