Having lived most of my life in Sydney which has a latitude (34'S) and climate very like Charleston NC, I can appreciate life in New Orleans. For 28 years I lived 80 km inland and at 2000 ft a.s. l so it was not quite so hot and when I moved there it was usually cooler at night but that was changing.
I use to avoid staying overnight at my mother's apartment until after my birthday in mid-March but it was not always avoidable. The nights were so hot. It is why this year I have broken my promise (when I moved) to always return to my sister for Christmas. She lives on the same floor as my mother did but in a bigger apartment. However the spare bedroom is much like my mother's lounge room where I use to sleep with no cross ventilation. I made the definite decision to migrate when on my mother's last New Year's Day it was 46'C (115'F). My mother's oxygen machine broke down (we had to get the cylinders) and they were closing picture theatres due to aircon breaking down.
Now I am in Dunedin (46'S) much like Maine, the maximum temperature ever recorded was 32'C (90'F) however because the landmass of NZ is so much smaller we do not get the cold of Maine. I have not seen it below -2'C (28'F) at my place 300 metres a.s.l but it does get down to -6'C at the airport on the river flat to the south and can be -16'C (3'F) in inland areas of the province which is called Central and about 100km inland.
People are surprised that Dunedin has lower rainfall than Sydney because Sydney receives a lot in thunderstorms when it pelts down. In Dunedin it tends to be just drizzle. Also it is more reliable. Sydney has water storage to last for years (it was 7 years when I was teaching geography but probably much less now due to rising population, they have installed a very expensive water desalination plant). Here in Dunedin we have 3-4 weeks supply
Also water is not metered, there have been no restrictions on use since I lived here but there have been some in the past. Watering gardens was often severely restricted in Sydney (only by hand morning and evening on 2 days per week when I left).
