Weather and Natural Disasters in the United States

Because the United States is so big, different kinds of weather are typical in different parts of the country. Different regions have different climates.

The Northeast, where I live, has a temperate climate. It is cold in the winter and warm in the summer. Sometimes we have bad storms called Nor’easters. They have strong winds and a lot of precipitation– rain or snow.

The climate in the Southeast, where I went to college, is similar to Almeria. In the summer it’s very hot and humid, but the winter is mild.

The most southern part of Florida and Hawaii have tropical climates. It is very hot and humid year round. It rains almost every day in these places, but only for a short time.

Every year on the east coast of the United States we have hurricanes. Hurricanes are storms with very, very strong winds and heavy rain. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina destroyed New Orleans, and the city is still being rebuilt.

Alaska has a subarctic climate. This means they have long and very cold winters with a lot of snow. Their summers are cool and short.

The Pacific Northwest has a climate similar to the north of Spain. It rains a lot and it has moderate temperatures year round– it is warm in the summer and cool in the winter.

California has a Mediterranean climate– it is hot in the summer and cool in the winter. It rains more in the winter than in the summer. California is almost famous for its earthquakes.

The Southwest has a very dry climate. It is a desert, so it’s very hot and it doesn’t rain.

The Midwest of the US has extreme temperatures. In the winter, it’s very cold and it snows a lot. Sometimes they have blizzards, or snow storms, with strong winds and heavy snow. In the summer, it’s very hot.

In the Great Plains, it’s very hot in the summer and cold in the winter. The Great Plains is famous for having a lot of tornadoes– in fact, they have more tornadoes than anywhere else in the world.

Tornadoes are powerful wind storms that occur sometimes when there are extreme temperature and pressure changes. Last week there were bad tornadoes in Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri and Kansas. Over 40 people have died.

Tornadoes, earthquakes and hurricanes are dangerous, but at least we don’t have tsunamis!