Why Do Coastal Areas Stay Warmer?

 

With fall settled in and winter approaching (too) quickly, it is that time of the year again where the temperatures drop and our coats bundle up. But every year this occurs, coastal areas never seem to get as consistently cold or snowy as non-coastal areas. Why is this?

The answer has to do, of course, with the oceans! Oceans are absolutely MASSIVE bodies of water than surround our continents (they hold 97% of all water on earth!) and it is because of their size that coastal areas stay warmer. Think of it this way, if you cook say, a chicken in the oven and then pop it immediately in the fridge to cool down, it is going to take a while, but not as long as a turkey, right? This is because there is more area of the turkey than there is the chicken, so there is more to cool down. Same with the ocean. There is just so much water that it takes a LOT of cold air to cool it down, and it still will not cool down to the same levels as inland areas, even by spring. This is not to say that every day along the coast is warmer than inland, but the overall trend of the season is warmer.

Ever wondered why summers in coastal areas are cooler than those inland? Just take this concept, and reverse it!