The North Atlantic provinces and New England are not too far from Chicago, being a mere 1,084 miles from Metropolitan Chicago to Portland, Maine. Both have humid continental climates However, there are some differences between the two regions.
Chicago has four distinct seasons, and the same can be said for the New England area. Both cities experience rain and snow during the wet seasons, hot and humid summers, pleasant autumns and very cold winters. Annual precipitation is average and the dry seasons occure mainly in the months of January and February.
However, there are major differences in the summer months. Chicago's typical summer day consists of high humidity and temperatures reach anywhere from 78 and 92 degrees with lows in the 60s at night. Maine stays around 75 to 80 degrees with lows at night around 50 degrees.
The lake breeze that Chicago experiences is also a phenomenon that the New England states are familiar with. A frequent lakeshore breeze pushes much cooler, moister air into Chicago, and also causes dense fog to spill into the city, just like it does in the New England cities. However, this effect causes thunderstorms to develop, whereas states like Maine do not experience many thunderstorms. Also, the lake breeze effect causes temperatures around the lakeshore to be warmer and downtown than inland, similar to the shore states of the North Atlantic.
