United States Weather and Climate

According to COUNTRYAAH, United States is a State of North America (9,371,219 km²). Capital: Washington. Administrative division: States (50), Federal District (1). Population: 327,167,434 (2018 estimate). Language: English (official), Spanish. Religion: Protestants 45%, Catholics 20%, Mormons 2%, Jews 2%, Hindus 1%, Buddhists 1%, Muslims 1%, others 4% (2016 data). Currency unit: US dollar (100 cents). Human Development Index: 0.914 (5th place). Borders: Canada (N), Atlantic Ocean (E), Gulf of Mexico and Mexico (S), Pacific Ocean (W). Member of: ANZUS, APEC, DR-CAFTA, EBRD, NAFTA, NATO, OAS, OECD, UN, OSCE, Council of Europe observer, SPC and WTO.

According to the Constitution of September 17, 1787 – later supplemented several times by amendments, the last of which dates back to 1970 – the USA is a presidential federal Republic. It includes the Federal District, or District of Columbia, which is the seat of the federal government, and 50 states, each with its own governor and Legislative Assembly (bicameral, except Nebraska which has a single chamber organ) elective; each of the States, with its own Constitution, has extensive internal powers (from education to civil and criminal jurisdiction) while the issue of currency, defense and management of foreign affairs are of federal competence. The legislative power of the USA rests with the Congress, made up of two chambers, both elected by universal suffrage: the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Senate, which is chaired by the Vice President of the USA, has a broad mandate: it is responsible for legislation on foreign policy and has exclusive competence for the ratification of international treaties; on the other hand, it is up to the House of Representatives to issue laws that impose taxes. The executive power it is exercised by the president of the United States with the help of a presidential cabinet, made up of the heads of the departments (ministries), which are appointed by him and accountable to him. The president is elected every 4 years, together with the vice-president who replaces him in case of death or impediment, by an assembly of “major electors” which is in turn elected – with the majority list system – by the electoral body, divided in colleges that have the same extension as the states and each of which elects a number of large electors equal to the number of senators and representatives to which the states are entitled. Equipped with broad powers, the president also has the initiative of laws and can exercise the right of veto over them; it must report annually to Congress on the “state of the Union”. impeachment, which requires the vote of the Chamber, the execution of a trial in the Senate and the favorable vote of the latter assembly by a majority of two thirds. He also appoints the judges of the Supreme Court (9 life members), the highest-ranking juridical body, which is responsible for deciding on conflicts between states and between states and federations, as well as on the constitutionality of laws voted by Congress. The removal of judges is possible by a three-quarter majority vote expressed by the Senate, upon request for impeachment made by the House of Representatives. The US judicial system, which is based on the Common Law British also provides, in the lower grades, the Courts of Appeal and the District Courts. There are also special courts, such as the Tax Court. Each State also has specific systems, with its own laws, bodies and procedures relating to everything that is not regulated by federal legislation. The death penalty is in force in 37 of the 50 states, but in 2005 the Supreme Court abolished the death penalty for citizens who have committed crimes before the age of 18. The defense of the United States is entrusted to traditional weapons (army, navy and air force) which is flanked by a Coast Guard. The power of the country, the main member of NATO, is significantly underlined not only by the possession of nuclear weapons, but also by the presence of American bases located in various strategic points on the planet and by programs aimed at intensifying national protection, such as the creation of a “space shield” (launched in 2002). The military service is carried out from 18 years of age; the share of women in the armed forces is very high and exceeds 15%. The United States does not recognize the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court in The Hague or consider the enactments of the International Court of Justice to be binding. Linked in the past to confessional institutions, and later inspired by European models, education became free at the beginning of the nineteenth century, even if only at the beginning of the following century the system was organized according to the different degrees of Elementary School or Grammar School, Junior High School and Senior High School. The compulsory schooling lasts 9 years. Primary school lasts 6 years; it is followed by the Junior High School which lasts three years and which constitutes a sort of bridge between elementary school and secondary school. Even the middle-high school is divided into three diploma courses: preparation for college, vocational training, general education. College is therefore immediately following secondary school. The term designates the four-year institution leading to the degree of Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science. The term “university” instead applies to those institutes which, in addition to having a non-specialized college, offer a plurality of professional courses, or schools of various types, the Graduate Schools, corresponding roughly to the Italian faculties, which lead to the achievement of the Master’s Degree. These schools also provide for further courses that end with the Doctor of Philosophy or Professional (Ph. D), corresponding to the doctorate degree. There are also other institutes such as Junior Colleges, which host young people between 18 and 20 years old and are located halfway between the two-year university period and the autonomous institute. Among the most important universities are: the universities of California (1868; with campuses in Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, San Francisco, etc.), Stanford University (Stanford, 1885), of Colorado (Boulder, 1861), Connecticut (Storrs, 1881), Yale University (New Haven, 1701), Florida (Gainesville, 1853), Illinois (Urbana, 1867), Northwestern University (Evanston, 1851), Chicago (1857), Purdue University (Lafayette, Indiana, 1874), Iowa (Ames, 1858), Kansas (Lawrence, 1864), Kentucky (Lexington, 1856), Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, Maryland, 1876), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, 1861), Harvard University (Cambridge, 1636), of Boston (1839), of Michigan (Ann Arbor, 1817), of Minnesota (Minneapolis, 1851), of Missouri (Columbia, 1839), of Nebraska (Lincoln, 1869), of New York (1831), the Princeton University (1746), Columbia University (New York, 1754), Cornell University (Ithaca, New York, 1865), North Carolina (Chapel Hill, 1931), Ohio (Columbus, 1870), Case Western Reserve University (Cleveland, 1967), Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, 1740), Tennessee (Knoxville, 1794), Texas (Austin, 1881), Washington State (Seattle, 1861). The illiteracy rate is very low (0.5%).

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Temperatures, precipitation, sunshine

Temperatures

The annual average temperature is 14 ° C. For comparison: Munich reaches an average of 8.6 ° C, in Berlin it is 9.6 ° C. The warmest month is July (26 ° C), coldest month of January with mean values of 2.7 ° C. The maximum water temperature is 24 ° C. Comfortable bathing is possible at these temperatures. The months of June, July, August, September and October have a water temperature of at least 17 ° C. Bathing is then possible to a limited extent. The months of July, August and September have a water temperature of at least 21 ° C and are therefore suitable for a beach holiday.

Precipitation

The annual precipitation is 929 mm on 129 days with precipitation. For comparison: In Munich, 967 mm, in Berlin 570 mm, precipitation is measured annually. There is no rainy season, i.e. months with more than 175 mm of precipitation. In the months of January, February, March, November and December is possible snowfall.

Sunshine

As our climate table shows, June is the sunniest month with an average of 9.7 hours of sunshine per day. On average over the year the sun shines 6.9 hours per day. For comparison: In Munich and Berlin, the sun shines an average of 4.7 hours per day throughout the year.

Cities nearby

The following major cities are nearby and have similar climates: Montgomery County, Prince George’s County, Washington, DC, Anne Arundel County, Howard County, Arlington County, Arlington, Charles County, Alexandria, and Columbia.