[Simulated (OP)]

During the Summer?

During the Winter?

Would California? Cuz during the winter it snows, yet it rains a few miles away.

[Karen W.]

And it is sunny too. Humboldt county is kind of tropical like Hawaii. O have had missionary friends from Hawaii that say they love it here in Humboldt County because the weather is just like home raining sunny wet warm and tropical like.. LOL..It can also be cold dry.. and hot and humid.. icy cold and snowy too!

Maybe California or Hawaii??

[paul.fr]

Would California? Cuz during the winter it snows, yet it rains a few miles away.

Sim, (ryan, nic, ben...which one are you?)

Try living in the UK.
The latitude of the British Isles means that they are influenced by predominantly westerly winds with depressions and their associated fronts (bands of cloud and rain), moving to the east or north-east across the North Atlantic, from the eastern coast of North America, bringing with them unsettled and windy weather, particularly in winter.

Between these depressions, there are often small mobile anticyclones that bring a period of fair weather. Sometimes large, stationary anticyclones become established near the British Isles where they effectively act as a 'block' to the regular passage of the depressions. These larger anticyclones can often last for over a month, and completely change the character of the weather. In winter, these blocking anticyclones bring dry weather, but with the cooling at night the drop in temperatures results in fog, which can be reluctant to clear the following day when the weak sunshine is unable to raise the temperature. If one of these anticyclones becomes positioned to north of the British Isles, often they become established over Scandinavia, and easterly winds on their southern side draw very cold air from the continent of Europe.

During the summer, these blocking anticyclones can lead to drought conditions, as rain-bearing fronts are 'diverted' around the country. Such a situation occurred in 1976 when a high-pressure cell sat over the UK for much of the summer, causing a noticeable drop in precipitation, well below the normal average.

There are many regional variations and microclimates in the British Isles, ranging from the nearly subtropical climate of Cornwall, to the dry semi-arid conditions of East Anglia to the Arctic tundra conditions which can be experienced in the highlands of Scotland. The western and northern parts of the British Isles tend to lie close to the normal path of the Atlantic depressions, giving mild and stormy winters and cool and windy summers when the depressions track a little further north. These areas also have the highest land, and the upland barriers have the effect of producing significant increases in rainfall. The lowland, mainly on the eastern side, has a similar climate, but less severe winters.

As for your question, i don't know the answer. But, California must be a candidate it has the hottest place in the world, Death Valley and in the north you have rainforests.

[Karen W.]

Its Ryan!

[DoctorBeaver]

I would have thought that somewhere like Oklahoma has the most diverse weather. It can be blisteringly hot in the summer and freezing with snow in the winter. It gets more than its share of tornadoes and hailstorms too.

Having said that, apart from the hurricanes, NYC is pretty diverse weatherwise too.

[paul.fr]

It depends on what is meant by diverse. Seasonal patterns, daily changeable weather, different climates across a wide/vast state. Until you know what diversity you are talking, the possibilities are endless...well there are 50 possible answers, i suppose.

[Simulated (OP)]

That's true. Ohio could be part of it too. Cuz it was 60 yesterday, 50 when i went ot bed, and i woke up and it was 10! SO crazy.

But lest says its the middle of winter and one system comes over the whole US and don't pewter out or get stronger. What state, with average winter temperatures, would have the most diverse weather? Snow, Rain, Ice, Mix all that happy stuff.

[DoctorBeaver]

Large expanses of water have a stabilising effect on temperature, so coastal states are less prone to mad swings. I would think the most diverse would be where the arctic air from Canada mixes with warmer air from the south. So, for that reason, I would again think of somewhere like Oklahoma. It's roughly equidistant from the Atlantic, the Pacific, Canada and Mexico.

[paul.fr]

Again it depends on definition, and what weather events you consider diverse. Do tornado's and hurricanes, that happen yearly, count? Does one state having both desert and rainforest count? Does lake effect snow count?
Then you have to take the jetstreams in to account, do they split and produce another weather type, or are they stable. El Nino and La Nina all have an effect.

Then different weather patterns in different seasons, so diversity between seasons is also another question...to many questions and possibilities.

[DoctorBeaver]

I took the question to mean which state has the widest variations in the type of weather it gets over a year. I suppose you could say that Florida has extremes - very hot most of the time, then cold, windy & wet when the hurricanes come.

[Bored chemist]

I don't know about states but the UK doesn't do badly for diverse weather. Climate wise it varies from Mediteranian in the far South to sub Arctic in the far North. Weatherwise, perhaps as good an illustration as any is that the week after midsummmer we were sent home from work early because of bad weather.
We also apparently have more tornadoes per square mile than any other country.

[JimBob]

Come on now, Texas has it all. Freezing ice storms, hot deserts to the west, humid pine forest in the east, coastal plain that is humid as the dickens, hurricanes, tornadoes, and if you don't like the weather wait 12 hours - it will be different. High was 80 F today here with calm winds, will be below freezing this evening with wind gusts up to 30 MPH.

[Bass]

Texans always think Texas has it all!
As they say in Colorado, "If God had meant for Texans to ski, he'd have made bulls#@t white!"

My vote would be Alaska.  Intense cold in the winter, heat in the summer, deserts, rainforests, unbelievable winds, huge mountains, 6 months of darkness, 6 months of light, fog, icebergs, blizzards, etc, etc.

[Bored chemist]

Does Texas have a lot of different weather simply because it's big?

[JimBob]

That is partly the case. But the relative proximity  of all of these feature - I live within 100 miles of each ecological area except the desert, which I am on the edge of, so the interactions of the climates along with the Gulf of Mexico makes for some really strange weather.

[DoctorBeaver]

I met a Texan once who said it took him 2 days to drive round his farm. I told him I had a dodgy car like that once too.  []

[JimBob]

It is true. Kleberg County and parts of all adjacent counties are all part of the king Ranch, presently the largest ranch in the US.

[Carol-A]

It does depend on what you mean, but by one meaning my vote would go to California! That is one state where you can move from glorious heat and sunshine in one part to 30" of snow in another on the same day!

[ukmicky]

Parts of this could be wrong but i believe.

In the USA the position of the jet stream caused i believe by warm air from the caribbean and cold air from the polar regions coming together is probably the biggest factor and influence on how bad and diverse the weather is going be in the various states. I read that if you drew a line over the states that suffered the most and worse tornado the line would also follow the position of the jet stream above. However as the jet stream moves about from year to year and has over the last decade been slowly move northwards it would probably be hard to give the honour of the most diverse weather to one particular state.

The reason why the UK has such diverse weather and so many small tornadoes can also be put down to the jet stream because it ends at the UK as it either passes over or loops around the island. The famous hurrican that devastate the the UK many years ago was due to abnormally high winds in the jet stream travelling in a very straight line  from the USA.

Many years ago the UK used to have very cold winters which used to cause the river Thames to freeze solid with 2 to 3 foot of snow also being the norm. This was due to the jet stream being blocked just before it reached the islands and split into two smaller currants which then circled around the UK in opposite directions rather than passing over it.

[paul.fr]

It gets more complicated than even that, Micky. In the US you have both the polar and subtropical jets, They can split and break to form more than two jets, and they do move around. You also have the heat of the oceans, mountain ranges, lake effect snow and the depth of ice on the great lake to name but a few factors that affect the weather in the US.