Cold Temperatures

There must be no cold or snow. There is only one reference to snow (I Nephi 3:46 [11:8], "...and the whiteness thereof did exceed the whiteness of the driven snow.") This statement was made by Nephi in the Valley of Lemuel (in the Old World). So, the people in the Book of Mormon knew snow, yet there are no references to cold or snow mentioned in the Promised Land.

Regarding cold temperatures in the Book of Mormon, there is a description of Alma and Amulek being held in a prison in the city of Ammoniah.  Note: Ammoniah is south of the narrow neck.

Lack of food, as mentioned in Alma 10:71 reduces the ability of the human body to generate body heat.  There are numerous cases where people in light clothing have died of hypothermia in sustained (less than 12 hours) temperatures below 50^o F (10^o C).  So, it's highly unlikely that a naked person suffering from hunger can survive if the temperatures fall below 50^o F (10^o C) for up to 12 hours.  The maps below show the world average temperatures for January.  Any place where the average temperature remains above 50^o F (10^o C) - an orange color - south of a narrow neck is a candidate location for the Book of Mormon.  For the United States, only the Florida narrow neck location meets the requirement of temperatures above 50^o F (10^o C) in January.

An observation made in Weather in relation to Book of Mormon geography, Tyler Livingston, FAIR, September 16, 2010 : "There are several events in The Book of Mormon that just could not have happened in the Great Lakes region... The average temperature in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, the area where some place Zarahemla which is by the Genesee and Niagara rivers, two rivers some interpret to be the river Sidon, has an average temperature of 31 degrees F during the day, with a nighttime average of 19 degrees F.  This is hardly an area that would sustain life for someone cast into a cold prison without any clothing or blankets for "many days"... Also, the clothing mentioned in The Book of Mormon is not consistent with the climate of North America."