Rome is further north than New York, but only by one degree of latitude. Although this seems counterintuitive since Rome has much milder winters than New York, this is simply because of the alternating influence of atmospheric pressure and the Westerlies, a group of winds. In reality, the two are almost identically placed along the same latitude line.
More latitude and longitude oddities:
- The longitude line of 0 degrees, commonly known as the prime meridian, hasn't always been the same line. In fact, four different longitudinal lines through Greenwich alone have been used as the prime meridian.
- The most northerly state in the contiguous United States is actually Minnesota. Though Washington, Idaho, Montana and North Dakota all lie on the 49th parallel, a small area in Minnesota called the Northwest Angle is the only part to actually lie north of the parallel.
- At a latitude of 60 degrees south, you can sail completely around the world. There is no land intersecting that line of latitude.