Main Page
Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb.
Welcome to the explain xkcd wiki!
We have an explanation for all 1915 xkcd comics,
and only 38
(2%) are incomplete. Help us finish them!
Latest comic
| Temperature Preferences |
 Title text: There's a supposed Mark Twain quote, "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco." It isn't really by Mark Twain, but I don't know who said it—I just know they've never been to McMurdo Station. |
Explanation
|
This explanation may be incomplete or incorrect: Fill in the table using data from weatherbase.com (Randall's source!). Do NOT delete this tag too soon. |
This is a chart of major (and not-so-major) populated areas showing seasonal temperature patterns. The chart is a guide to where one might like to live depending on how much summer heat and winter cold they enjoy. There are four focused zones:
- Hate both cold and heat (eg. Quito, Addis Ababa)--Neither summers nor winters are too extreme; Typical in higher elevations tropical regions
- Hate cold but love heat (eg. Rio, Bangkok, Manila)--Very hot in the summer; typically tropical regions
- Hate heat but love cold (eg. Moscow, Oslo)--Very cold in the winter; typically high latitudes
- Love both heat and cold (eg. Seoul, Beijing)--Both summers and winters are extreme
The summer heat axis is determined by humidex, a system that combines heat and humidity to generate an estimate of perceived "summer discomfort".
| City | Country | Continent | Average low in coldest month (°C) | Average high in hottest month (°C) | Hottest monthly average dew point (°C) | Humidex | Latitude | Elevation (m) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abakan | Russia | Asia | -22 | 26 | 13 | 28.8 | 53° 43′ N | 248 |
| Addis Ababa | Ethiopia | Africa | 10 | 22 | 11 | 23.8 | 9° 1′ N | 2355 |
| Altay | China | Asia | -22 | 27 | 8 | 27.4 | 47° 52′ N | 887 |
| Athens | Greece | Europe | 7 | 31.8 | 14 | 35.2 | 37° 59′ N | 70 |
| Atlanta | United States | North America | 1.3 | 31.7 | 20.1 | 39.4 | 33° 45′ N | 225 |
| Baghdad | Iraq | Asia | 3 | 43 | 8 | 43.4 | 33° 20′ N | 34 |
| Bangkok | Thailand | Asia | 21 | 34 | 24 | 45.3 | 13° 45′ N | 1.5 |
| Barcelona | Spain | Europe | 4.4 | 28 | 18 | 34 | 41° 23′ N | 12 |
| Beijing | China | Asia | -8 | 30 | 20 | 37.6 | 39° 55′ N | 43.5 |
| Berlin | Germany | Europe | -3 | 22 | 11 | 23.8 | 53° 31′ N | 34 |
| Blagoveshchensk | Russia | Asia | -26.2 | 27.3 | 16 | 31.9 | 50° 15′ N | 133 |
| Bogotá | Colombia | South America | 6 | 19 | 10 | 20.3 | 4° 42′ N | 2640 |
| Boston | United States | North America | -5.4 | 27.6 | 16.3 | 32.4 | 42° 21′ N | 43 |
| Brisbane | Australia | Oceania | 9 | 28 | 18 | 34 | 27° 28′ S | 28 |
| Budapest | Hungary | Europe | -3 | 26 | 12 | 28.3 | ° ′ N | |
| Buenos Aires | Argentina | South America | 7.4 | 30.4 | 16 | 35 | ° ′ N | |
| Cairo | Egypt | Africa | 9 | 33 | 18 | 39 | ° ′ N | |
| Calgary | Canada | North America | -13.2 | 23.2 | 7 | 23.2 | ° ′ N | |
| Cape Town | South Africa | Africa | 8 | 25 | 15 | 29 | 33° 59′ S | 42 |
| Casper | United States | North America | -10.3 | 31.2 | 6.8 | 31.1 | ° ′ N | |
| Chengdu | China | Asia | 2 | 28 | 22 | 37.3 | ° ′ N | |
| Dallas | United States | North America | 3 | 36 | 19.4 | 43.1 | ° ′ N | |
| Da Qaidam | China | Asia | -23 | 22 | -6 | 18.6 | ° ′ N | |
| Dar es Salaam | Tanzania | Africa | 19 | 31 | 23 | 41.3 | ° ′ N | |
| DC | United States | North America | -1.9 | 31.3 | 19.1 | 38.1 | ° ′ N | |
| Delhi | India | Asia | 7.8 | 39.8 | 24 | 51.1 | ° ′ N | |
| Dhaka | Bangladesh | Asia | 12.7 | 33.7 | 25 | 46 | ° ′ N | |
| Dubai | United Arab Emirates | Asia | 14 | 39 | 23 | 49.3 | ° ′ N | |
| Dublin | Ireland | Europe | 2.3 | 19.5 | 11 | 21.3 | ° ′ N | |
| Duluth | United States | North America | -16.1 | 23.4 | 13.3 | 26.4 | ° ′ N | |
| Edinburgh | United Kingdom | Europe | 1.1 | 19.2 | 10 | 20.5 | ° ′ N | |
| El Paso | United States | North America | -0.3 | 35.6 | 12.8 | 38.3 | ° ′ N | |
| Fairbanks | United States | North America | -27.2 | 22.6 | 9.8 | 23.8 | ° ′ N | |
| Fargo | United States | North America | -17.7 | 28.1 | 15.1 | 32.1 | ° ′ N | |
| Flagstaff | United States | North America | -7.3 | 30.9 | 8.2 | 31.4 | ° ′ N | |
| Geneva | Switzerland | Europe | -1.3 | 26.5 | 12 | 28.8 | ° ′ N | |
| Guangzhou | China | Asia | 10 | 32 | 25 | 44.3 | ° ′ N | |
| Hailar | China | Asia | -32 | 25 | 13 | 27.8 | ° ′ N | |
| Halifax | Canada | North America | -10 | 22 | 13 | 24.8 | ° ′ N | |
| Ho Chi Minh City | Vietnam | Asia | 22 | 33 | 23 | 43.3 | ° ′ N | |
| Hong Kong | China | Asia | 14 | 31 | 24 | 42.3 | ° ′ N | |
| Honolulu | United States | North America | 18.9 | 31.1 | 20.1 | 38.8 | ° ′ N | |
| Houston | United States | North America | 6.2 | 34.7 | 22.7 | 44.7 | ° ′ N | |
| Irkutsk | Russia | Asia | -22 | 24.8 | 12 | 27.1 | ° ′ N | |
| Istanbul | Turkey | Europe* | 2 | 27 | 16 | 31.6 | ° ′ N | |
| Jakarta | Indonesia | Asia | 23 | 31 | 23 | 41.3 | ° ′ N | |
| Jerusalem | Israel | Asia | 6.4 | 29.4 | 15 | 33.4 | ° ′ N | |
| Jinzhou | China | Asia | -12 | 27 | 20 | 34.6 | ° ′ N | |
| Kabul | Afghanistan | Asia | -5 | 31 | 8 | 31.4 | ° ′ N | |
| Kansas City | United States | North America | -6.9 | 31.3 | 19.6 | 38.5 | ° ′ N | |
| Karachi | Pakistan | Asia | 12 | 33 | 25 | 45.3 | ° ′ N | |
| Kiev | Ukraine | Europe | -9 | 23 | 12 | 25.3 | ° ′ N | |
| Kinshasa | Democratic Republic of Congo |
Africa | 20 | 30 | 21 | 38.4 | ° ′ N | |
| Lagos | Nigeria | Africa | 23 | 30 | 23 | ° ′ N | ||
| Lahore | Pakistan | Asia | 8 | 38 | 24 | 40.3 | ° ′ N | |
| London | United Kingdom | Europe | 1 | 22.9 | 12 | 49.3 | ° ′ N | |
| Los Angeles | United States | North America | 13 | 22 | 16.2 | 25.2 | ° ′ N | |
| Lubbock | United States | North America | -3.6 | 33.8 | 15.9 | 26.7 | ° ′ N | |
| Madrid | Spain | Europe | 2.6 | 31.2 | 11 | 38.3 | ° ′ N | |
| Manila | Philippines | Asia | 21 | 33 | 23 | 33 | ° ′ N | |
| McMurdo | Antarctica | -31 | -1 | -8 | 43.3 | ° ′ N | ||
| Melbourne | Australia | Oceania | 5 | 26 | 12 | 28.3 | ° ′ N | |
| Mexico City | Mexico | North America | 7 | 26 | 11 | ° ′ N | ||
| Miami | United States | North America | ° ′ N | |||||
| Minneapolis | United States | North America | ° ′ N | |||||
| Moscow | Russia | Europe | ° ′ N | |||||
| Mumbai | India | Asia | ° ′ N | |||||
| Nairobi | Kenya | Africa | ° ′ N | |||||
| Needles | United States | North America | ° ′ N | |||||
| Omaha | United States | North America | ° ′ N | |||||
| Oslo | Norway | Europe | ° ′ N | |||||
| Ottawa | Canada | North America | ° ′ N | |||||
| Paris | France | Europe | 2.7 | 25.2 | 12 | ° ′ N | ||
| Perth | Australia | Oceania | 27.5 | ° ′ N | ||||
| Portland | United States | North America | 1.8 | 27.3 | 12.4 | 45° 36′ N | 6 | |
| Pyongyang | North Korea | Asia | ° ′ N | |||||
| Qiqihar | China | Asia | ° ′ N | |||||
| Quito | Ecuador | South America | 9 | 20 | 9 | ° ′ N | ||
| Raleigh | United States | North America | -0.6 | 32.3 | 20.3 | 20.8 | 35° 47′ N | 119 |
| Regina | Canada | North America | ° ′ N | |||||
| Reykjavik | Iceland | Europe | -2 | 12 | 7 | ° ′ N | ||
| Richmond | United States | North America | 12 | ° ′ N | ||||
| Rio | Brazil | South America | 16.9 | 32.9 | 21 | 48 | 22° 49′ S | 6 |
| Riyadh | Saudi Arabia | Asia | ° ′ N | |||||
| Rome | Italy | Europe | ° ′ N | |||||
| Sabha | Libya | Africa | ° ′ N | |||||
| Saint Louis | United States | North America | ° ′ N | |||||
| Salt Lake City | United States | North America | -5.8 | 33.7 | 7.7 | 38 | 40° 47′ N | 1286 |
| San Francisco | United States | North America | ° ′ N | |||||
| Santa Fe | United States | North America | ° ′ N | |||||
| Santiago | Chile | South America | 2.5 | 29.4 | ° ′ N | |||
| Sao Paulo | Brazil | South America | 12 | 28 | 18 | 39 | 23° 37′ S | 802 |
| Sapporo | Japan | Asia | ° ′ N | |||||
| Seoul | South Korea | Asia | ° ′ N | |||||
| Shanghai | China | Asia | ° ′ N | |||||
| Shenyang | China | Asia | ° ′ N | |||||
| Singapore | Singapore | Asia | ° ′ N | |||||
| Sioux Falls | United States | North America | ° ′ N | |||||
| St Petersburg | Russia | Europe | ° ′ N | |||||
| Stockholm | Sweden | Europe | -6 | 17 | 10 | 59° 39′ N | 60 | |
| Sydney | Australia | Oceania | ° ′ N | |||||
| Tashkent | Uzbekistan | Asia | ° ′ N | |||||
| Tehran | Iran | Asia | ° ′ N | |||||
| Thunder Bay | Canada | North America | ° ′ N | |||||
| Tokyo | Japan | Asia | ° ′ N | |||||
| Tongliao | China | Asia | ° ′ N | |||||
| Toronto | Canada | North America | ° ′ N | |||||
| Turpan | China | Asia | ° ′ N | |||||
| Ulaanbaatar | Mongolia | Asia | ° ′ N | |||||
| Urumqi | China | Asia | ° ′ N | |||||
| Vancouver | Canada | North America | ° ′ N | |||||
| Vladivostok | Russia | Asia | ° ′ N | |||||
| Volgograd | Russia | Europe | ° ′ N | |||||
| Wellington | New Zealand | Oceania | ° ′ N | |||||
| Wuhan | China | Asia | ° ′ N | |||||
| Xi'an | China | Asia | ° ′ N | |||||
| Yellowknife | Canada | North America | -29.5 | 21.3 | 7 | ° ′ N | ||
| Yumen | China | Asia | 21.3 | ° ′ N |
- Istanbul spans both Europe and Asia but its city center is located in Europe.
Transcript
- [A chart labeled:]
- Where to live
- based on your temperature preferences
- [In gray, the data source is mentioned below:]
- Climate data from weatherbase.com
- [A chart with two lines with single arrows. Each arrow is labeled:]
- Y axis bottom: Cold winters
- X axis right: Hot/humid summers (measured via Humidex, which combines heat and dew point)
- [Near each of the corners of the chart there is a gray blob, labeled:]
- Top left: If you hate cold and heat
- Top right: If you hate cold and love heat
- Bottom left: If you love cold and hate heat
- Bottom right: If you love cold and heat
- [The following city names intersect with the top left blob [hate cold and heat] (in reading order):]
- Mexico City
- Quito
- Addis Ababa
- Bogotá
- San Francisco
- Wellington
- [The following city names intersect with the top right blob [hate cold and love heat] (in reading order):]
- Bangkok
- Ho Chi Minh City
- Manila
- Singapore
- Mumbai
- Jakarta
- Dar Es Salaam
- Honolulu
- Lagos
- Rio [de Janeiro]
- Dhaka
- Kinhasa
- Miami
- Karachi
- Dubai
- Cairo
- Hong Kong
- Delhi
- Riyadh
- Guangzhou
- Lahore
- Sabha
- Houston
- Needles
- El Paso
- Baghdad
- Dallas
- [The following city names intersect with the bottom left blob [love cold and hate heat] (in reading order):]
- Reykjavik (with arrow pointing left)
- Berlin
- Stockholm
- Oslo
- Calgary
- Halifax
- Daqaidam
- Kiev
- Casper
- Yumen
- St Petersburg
- Volgograd
- Moscow
- Ottawa
- Vladivostok
- Thunder Bay
- Duluth
- Urumqi
- Altay
- Regina
- Irkutsk
- Abakan
- Ulaanbaatar
- Blagoveshchensk (also on bottom right blob)
- Fairbanks
- McMurdo (with arrow pointing down-left)
- Yellowknife (with arrow pointing down)
- Hailar
- [The following city names intersect with the bottom right blob [love cold and heat] (in reading order):]
- [Washington] DC
- Shanghai
- Tehran
- Saint Louis
- New York
- Xi'An
- Salt Lake City
- Kansas City
- Beijing
- Seoul
- Sapporo
- Pyongyang
- Sioux Falls
- Turpan
- Jinzhou
- Minneapolis
- Shenyang
- Fargo
- Tongliao
- Qiqihar
- Blagoveshchensk (also on bottom left blob)
- [The following city names do not intersect with any blob (in reading order):]
- Nairobi
- São Paulo
- Brisbane
- Los Angeles
- Perth
- Cape Town
- Sydney
- Athens
- Santiago
- Barcelona
- Melbourne
- Rome
- Buenos Aires
- Jerusalem
- Atlanta
- Raleigh
- Madrid
- Chengdu
- Tokyo
- Dublin
- Portland
- Richmond
- London
- Istanbul
- Edinburgh
- Vancouver
- Paris
- Flagstaff
- Santa Fe
- Tashkent
- Wuhan
- Geneva
- Lubbock
- Boston
- Budapest
- Kabul
- Toronto
- Omaha
Is this out of date? .
New here?
Last 7 days (Top 10) |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Lots of people contribute to make this wiki a success. Many of the recent contributors, listed above, have just joined. You can do it too! Create your account here.
You can read a brief introduction about this wiki at explain xkcd. Feel free to sign up for an account and contribute to the wiki! We need explanations for comics, characters, themes and everything in between. If it is referenced in an xkcd web comic, it should be here.
- If you're new to wiki editing, see how to edit wiki pages. There's also a handy wikicode cheatsheet.
- Discussion about the wiki itself happens at the Community portal.
- You can browse the comics from List of all comics or by navigating the category tree at Category:Comics.
- There are incomplete explanations listed here. Feel free to help out by expanding them!
- We sell advertising space to pay for our server costs. To learn more, go here.
Rules
Don't be a jerk.
There are a lot of comics that don't have set-in-stone explanations; feel free to put multiple interpretations in the wiki page for each comic.
If you want to talk about a specific comic, use its discussion page.
Please only submit material directly related to (and helping everyone better understand) xkcd... and of course only submit material that can legally be posted (and freely edited). Off-topic or other inappropriate content is subject to removal or modification at admin discretion, and users who repeatedly post such content will be blocked.
If you need assistance from an admin, post a message to the Admin requests board.
