More about temperature

Geologists tell us that the rocks that comprise the continents are made of minerals that are in turn comprised of various metals (iron, aluminum etc.).

Metals have an interesting property -- when exposed to the same amount of solar energy (i.e., hours of daylight) as a comparable amount of water (i.e., ocean), the metals will heat up more. Similarly, given the same number of nighttime hours, during which all objects "lose" (the proper term is "radiate") energy, metal objects will cool more.

This explains why, during the summer half of the year, the temperature of the continents at a given latitude is warmer than that of the oceans at the same latitude, despite both surface types receiving the exact same amount of solar energy. (Number of hours of daylight exceed number of hours of darkness, in a 24 hour period)

And during the winter half of the year, the temperature of the continents at a given latitude is colder than that of the oceans at the same latitude, despite both surface types losing the exact same amount of energy during a 24 hour period. (Number of hours of darkness exceed number of hours of daylight).

In the transition seasons (Spring and Fall) it is often true that the continents are warmer than the oceans during the mid afternoon and colder than the oceans at night.