weatherwiz Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 When it comes to breaking down the Continental US into region specific areas it's always interesting seeing the different maps and breakdowns across the internet. There doesn't appear to be an exact definition or method of doing so but there are certainly some maps out there that make you go, "what". Anyways, I've always tried to go through and make my own conclusions and such and given how there is no exact why to do so, I suppose there is no correct answer, however, I always tried to think really hard of what exactly is the best way to do this. Below is what I've just come up with. Northeast: Maine Vermont New Hampshire New York (excluding Long Island) Massachusetts Connecticut Rhode Island Mid-Atlantic: Pennsylvania New Jersey Long Island Maryland Delaware West Virginia Virginia North Carolina Tennessee/Ohio Valley Michigan (excluding UP) Illinois Indiana Ohio Kentucky Tennessee Southeast South Carolina Mississippi Alabama Georgia Florida West Coast Washington Oregon Idaho California Nevada Arizona Inter-mountain West Montana Wyoming Utah Colorado New Mexico Southern Plains Texas Louisiana Oklahoma Arkansas Central Plains Nebraska Iowa Kansas Missouri North Plains North Dakota South Dakota Minnesota Wisconsin UP Michigan Just thought it would be cool to see how others break down the US into different regions and also looking for any input and such since I'm really anal about this stuff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WidreMann Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 NC is not mid-atlantic, although we do often participate in many of the MA winter storms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weatherwiz Posted December 21, 2013 Author Share Posted December 21, 2013 NC is not mid-atlantic, although we do often participate in many of the MA winter storms. It's considered more the Southeast? Thanks for that input...I'm absolutely open to making necessary changes as I want this to be as close to reality and what would be more widely accepted as possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huronicane Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 Just one man's opinion: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 Just one man's opinion: Pretty good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WidreMann Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 It's considered more the Southeast? Thanks for that input...I'm absolutely open to making necessary changes as I want this to be as close to reality and what would be more widely accepted as possible. Culturally and historically, it's definitely SE. Weatherwise, it's a little more mixed, but it's definitely not as cold or snowy as the true MA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weatherwiz Posted December 21, 2013 Author Share Posted December 21, 2013 Culturally and historically, it's definitely SE. Weatherwise, it's a little more mixed, but it's definitely not as cold or snowy as the true MA. This makes a great deal of sense. Also goes into another point about breaking states into regions. It depends on what you're relating too. In my case, since this is more weather based, it makes complete sense to have everything grouped together in terms of similar climo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huronicane Posted December 21, 2013 Share Posted December 21, 2013 Anyways, I've always tried to go through and make my own conclusions and such and given how there is no exact why to do so, I suppose there is no correct answer, however, I always tried to think really hard of what exactly is the best way to do this. Below is what I've just come up with. My biggest issues with yours are calling the UP of Michigan part of the Northern Plains (their climate and way of life are vastly different from plains states), the Lower Peninsula of Michigan being part of the Ohio/TN Valley (they are far too north) and Louisiana being considered in the Southern Plains (climate and geology). I don't think you can make a lot of states solely one region or another, which is why my map looks the way it does. In fact, I would even adjust mine further, to add parts of Wyoming and Montana to the Great Plains Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weatherwiz Posted December 21, 2013 Author Share Posted December 21, 2013 My biggest issues with yours are calling the UP of Michigan part of the Northern Plains (their climate and way of life are vastly different from plains states), the Lower Peninsula of Michigan being part of the Ohio/TN Valley (they are far too north) and Louisiana being considered in the Southern Plains (climate and geology). I don't think you can make a lot of states solely one region or another, which is why my map looks the way it does. In fact, I would even adjust mine further, to add parts of Wyoming and Montana to the Great Plains The labels aren't exactly set in stone...I just threw those up just for time purposes. The main driver here was just trying to group states in a closer proximity to each other rather than really based on Climo...in order to do Climo you would have to have a tremendous understanding of virtually each states Climo and that is something I certainly don't know. Going back to my map I would probably move AZ into the same region as New Mexico. What I really like about your breakdown is how you just didn't include a state in it's entirety in a region...going that route will definitely yield to a more accurate breakdown but on the other hand, leading to more work (which is not a bad thing). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallow Posted December 23, 2013 Share Posted December 23, 2013 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonger Posted December 23, 2013 Share Posted December 23, 2013 Michigan being in the Ohio valley feels odd, I would create a great lakes states region for this area. There is no mention of Lake States, we are pretty much defined by our lakes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mississaugasnow Posted December 24, 2013 Share Posted December 24, 2013 Though not part of any US region. The way Southern Ontario sticks deep into the US is always interesting when looking at a map. We are tied economically and to a certain extent culturally to both the North East and Mid West. I would agree with other posters though which think that the Great Lakes should be its own region. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LocoAko Posted December 24, 2013 Share Posted December 24, 2013 Not sure what you're classifying by, but I wouldn't include AR and LA in "Southern Plains" -- they're definitely more pure South than that, especially geographically. There's nothing Plains about them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WNash Posted December 24, 2013 Share Posted December 24, 2013 I just wonder if this isn't going about it the wrong way. I might start by listing pairs of cites and asking if they have similar weather... e.g., Buffalo and Cleveland, clearly yes; Buffalo and Syracuse, yes; Syracuse and Albany, no; Cleveland and Columbus, no. I might document my rules for groupings (e.g. lake instability a factor much of the year). On the second map above, I could not pair, say, Memphis with Charleston WV based on notable differences in climate and generally disparate outcomes during synoptic events. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORH_wxman Posted December 24, 2013 Share Posted December 24, 2013 I wouldn't exclude Long Island from the Northeast....their weather (esp the north shore) is quite similar to southern New England. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mnweather Posted December 24, 2013 Share Posted December 24, 2013 I'd take out Idaho, Nevada, and Arizona as west coast. I think they are more inter-mountain west. Id also take out northern MN, Wisconsin, and the UP of Michigan as northern plains. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallow Posted December 24, 2013 Share Posted December 24, 2013 I'd take out Idaho, Nevada, and Arizona as west coast. I think they are more inter-mountain west. Id also take out northern MN, Wisconsin, and the UP of Michigan as northern plains. This for sure. Esp. Nevada and Arizona. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Global_Warmer Posted December 29, 2013 Share Posted December 29, 2013 Michigan is lakes Split Ohio/Tenn valleys. Central plains ends just East of KC. Central/southern MO to the East is def Ohio valley. KC and STL have stark differences in weather. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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