Hurricane Ike 5-day tracking map from NHC. The mileage ruler is in statute miles, where 5 degrees of latitude span 345.2 miles (555.8 km),[1][2] and 5 degrees of longitude at 30 degrees North latitude span 299.8 miles (482.7 km).[3]
The scale and offset of the map can vary with each advisory (compare map boundaries of advisories 43 & 44), re-centered for the latest forecast path (white cone).
Measured in statue miles, 5 degrees of latitude span 345.2 miles (555.8 km), based on 1 degree as 69.05 statute miles (111.2 km), or 60 nautical miles.
[1][2]
Longitude varies in length according to degree of latitude.[2] The following are a sampling of longitude lengths for selected latitudes, starting in the southern US and moving north:
at 30 degrees North (area of Houston, Texas), a degree of longitude is 59.96 statute miles;[2]
at 35 degrees North (area of Albuquerque, NM), a degree of longitude is 56.73 statute miles;
at 40 degrees North (Kansas/Nebraska border), a degree of longitude is 53.06 statute miles;
at 45 degrees North (Montana/Wyoming border), a degree of longitude is 49.00 statute miles.[2]
At 30 degrees North (near Houston), 5 degrees of longitude span 299.8 miles (555.8 km),[3] and at 35 north (near Albuquerque), 5 degrees of longitude span 283.65 (~284 miles, 457 km).[3]
Notes
↑ ab
"Weights and Measures" (conversion tables),
Upper New England Coast (UNEC) Cyber Community, 1999, webpage:
UNEC.