Far North Indeed
October 8th, 2004,The Upper Midwest is up and out of the way, far northerly, not a crossroads in the way that other Midwestern states such as Indiana and Illinois are. It is separated from the populous East by the Great Lakes, which make it impossible to reach the region from the Northeast in a straight line over land.
The region is actually more northerly than it looks on most maps of the United States. On maps with curving latitude lines, Boston appears to be as far north as Minneapolis-St. Paul. However, Boston is really about the same latitude as northern Iowa. Minneapolis-St. Paul’s position on the 45th parallel of latitude actually makes it as northerly as central Maine and the northern borders of New York, Vermont, and New Hampshire.
Seattle is the only major U.S. city farther north. Portland, Oregon, is about the same latitude. Minneapolis-St. Paul is well north of Detroit and Toronto, and only slightly less northern than Montreal.
The northern border of Minnesota is about 300 miles from the Twin Cities–very northerly indeed. A portion of that border runs along the 49th parallel that divides Canada and the United States from here all the way to the Pacific. For an East Coast comparison, this is the same latitude as northern Newfoundland.
It’s interesting to note that at 45 degrees latitude, the Twin Cities is halfway between the Equator and the North Pole, which are at zero and 90 degrees latitude respectively. Europe is generally more northerly. Bordeaux, France, and Venice, Italy, are about the same latitude as the Twin Cities. Asia is generally more southerly. Harbin, China, in the far northern part of that country, and Vladivostok, Russia, are about the same latitude as the Twin Cities.
Climate-wise, the Upper Midwest has the misfortune to be in the center of a continent. So, although the Twin Cities is the same latitude as northern Italy, its weather is far colder. There are no oceans to warm the Arctic air masses as they pour down from the North, and we must dress accordingly.
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