I'm surprised you didn't know that, specially after having flown young men from one coast to the other for years.
Does it snow in San Francisco? Does it snow in Norfolk 1' closer to the equator?
The water of the Pacific is colder, and summers aren't as hot in LA even thought has almost the same latitude of Atlanta. Temperatures are more extreme in the East Coast were it has snowed even Northern Florida and New Orleans.
Madrid and NYC have the same latitude and even thought Spain's capital is 200o feet above sea level (2nd highest in Europe) it snows there once in a decade instead of every single year like it does in Gotham city.
http://media.gettyimages.com/photos/royal-palace-in-snow-madrid-spain-europe-picture-id88800363
http://media.gettyimages.com/photos/january-09-2009-madrid-spain-heavy-snow-storm-in-madrid-espana-square-picture-id89449626