> It gets A LOT colder here in Minnesota during winter than it does in Norway.
As someone who hasn't spent a lot of time in Norway or Minnesota this seems very surprising—if only because the southernmost part of Norway appears to be substantially farther north than the northernmost part of Minnesota.
And the data I'm finding suggests that the average winter temp is about 5 degrees lower in Norway than Minnesota. Though none of the data I've found in a few minutes of googling seems very reliable and understanding that Norway in particular is a big place. The average temperature of Norway weighted by area is surely much lower than it would be weighted by population.
Does the gulf stream have an impact here, at least on southern Norway?
The Gulf Stream and generally just being close to the ocean has a massive effect at making the climate a lot more mild in the North Atlantic.
Not only that, but due to the way the winds move in the US places like Minnesota and the Dakotas also tend to get absolutely hammered from the jet stream by arctic air.
Gulf stream but also just being near an ocean at all. Lots of factors other than how far north a place is impact average temperatures. Also, if you're looking at the average temperature of the entire country of Norway versus the entire state of Minnesota, that isn't going to reflect where most people actually live. A whole lot of Norway is Svalbard and north of the arctic circle with virtually no permanent human settlements. Most of the population is in the south on the coast. Most of Minnesota's population will be near the lake, which is still more moderate than deep on the plains, but the difference likely won't be as stark as it is in Norway.
Heck, there is a pretty big difference between the coasts and the midwest even just in North America. I grew up in Los Angeles and currently live in Dallas. Dallas is farther south and it actually does get hotter, but it also gets colder. Los Angeles had seen something like a quarter inch of snow in the past century when I left. It snows in Dallas every year. There was snow last week. Even though the currents in the Pacific flow from the north and the water is cold, it still has a moderating effect compared to living on the plains.
As someone who hasn't spent a lot of time in Norway or Minnesota this seems very surprising—if only because the southernmost part of Norway appears to be substantially farther north than the northernmost part of Minnesota.
And the data I'm finding suggests that the average winter temp is about 5 degrees lower in Norway than Minnesota. Though none of the data I've found in a few minutes of googling seems very reliable and understanding that Norway in particular is a big place. The average temperature of Norway weighted by area is surely much lower than it would be weighted by population.
Does the gulf stream have an impact here, at least on southern Norway?