Last night (10:15 p.m.) the TV weather man said the temperature in the Philadelphia area was 64. Down the shore, some 50+ miles it was also 64. But, between the two places , in the pinelines of NJ it was 56.

  The weather man said it was because of the sandy soil there.

   Did he mean clay soils hold the heat more than sandy soils?

   Are there implications for maintaining golf courses in this ?



   This is what happens when you don't play your normal amount of golf.  You think of things like this.I told my wife I needed to get a girlfriend. She said "Good luck with that!".

The San Francisco Bay Area has many micro-climates within 20-30 miles of each other that have 30-50 degree temperature differences.  The natural configuration of the land mass, with the Pacific Ocean and SF Bay promotes these wild swings in temperatures.

The 580/680 corridor (Pleasanton up to Walnut Creek) can be 90-100 degrees and 15 miles away in Hayward (by the bay) it can be 55 degrees and breezy.

As an old nurseryman I can attest to micro-climtes being very normal...sometimes as little as a block away...and if you want to be technical, the northside of your home has a different climate than the southside...

Soil type, vegitation, moisture (humidity) elevation, exposure to wind and sun, all contribute to temperature variation....we often have frost at our golf course when the on site air temp is two or three degrees above freezing...

Surprisingly, the Flathead valley here in western Montana grows a mean sweet cherry crop, inspite of high elevation, and cold winter weather due to the moderating effects of the largest natural body of fresh water west of the Great Lakes....that is until that rare winter when it doesn't snow and the lake totally freezes over...

Two places I can think of are Northern Michigan and Hawaii.  Along Grand Traverse Bay or along Lake Michigan it can be quite cool with the wind off the water.  Go inland a few miles and the Temp can warm up considerably.

Lanaii can be quite cool up top and hotter than h--- on the ocean.