Climate, Weather, Environment: Climate Types

Wet equatorial climate

Within about 12° latitude of the Equator

High temperatures around 86° F (30° C), with plentiful precipitation 59–394 inches (150–1,000 cm), heavy cloud cover, and high humidity, with very little annual temperature variation

Tropical monsoon and trade-wind littoral climates

Between 15° and 30° latitude

Small annual temperature ranges, high temperatures, and plentiful precipitation. A short dry season, usually in the “winter” season

Tropical wet-dry climate

Between 15° and 30° latitude

This climate has distinct wet and dry seasons, with most of the precipitation occurring in “summer.”

Tropical and subtropical desert climate

Between 15° and 30° latitude

Arid

Tropical and subtropical steppe climate

The periphery of tropical and subtropical desert climate.

Semiarid

Mid-latitude steppe and desert climate

This climate extends to 50° latitude, and cool steppes reach nearly 60° N.

Extreme temperature variations and little precipitation

Humid subtropical climate

These climates are found on the eastern sides of the continents between 20° and 35° N and S latitude.

A relatively uniform distribution of precipitation throughout the year.

Mediterranean climate

Between about 30° and 45° latitude on the western sides of the continents

Hot, dry summers and cool, wet winters.

Marine west coast climate

Poleward of the Mediterranean climate region on the western sides of the continents, between 35° and 60° N and S latitude

Precipitation is plentiful and frequent. Few extremes of temperature.

Humid continental climate

The humid continental sub-group occupies a region between 30° and 60° N in central and eastern North America and Asia in the major zone of conflict between polar and tropical air masses.

Large seasonal temperature contrasts with hot summers and cold winters. Precipitation is plentiful throughout the year.

Continental subarctic climate

North of the humid continental climate, from about 50° to 70° N, in a broad swath extending from Alaska to Newfoundland in North America and from northern Scandinavia to Siberia in Eurasia, lie the continental subarctic climates.

These are regions dominated by the winter season, a long, bitterly cold period with short, clear days, and relatively little precipitation.

Tundra climate

Tundra climates occur between 60° and 75° of latitude, mostly along the Arctic coast of North America and Eurasia and on the coastal margins of Greenland.

Mean annual temperatures are below freezing and annual ranges are large. Summers are generally mild and days are long, but they are often cloudy. The snow cover of winter melts in the warmer season. Winters are long and cold and precipitation generally consists of dry snow.

Snow and ice climate

This climate occurs poleward of 65° N and S latitude over the ice caps of Greenland and Antarctica and over the permanently frozen portion of the Arctic Ocean,

Winters are frigid, with mean monthly temperatures from –4 °F to –85 ° F (–20 ° C to –65 ° C). Daily temperature variations are very small, because at such high latitudes the sun's elevation varies little over the daylight period. Precipitation is meager in the cold, stable air with the largest amounts occurring on the coastal margins. Precipitation is usually in the form of snow and ice pellets, with strong winds, and blizzards. High winds also occur in the outer portions of the Greenland and Antarctic EF climates.

Highland climates

The major highland regions of the world (the Cascades, Sierra Nevada, and Rockies of North America, the Andes of South America, the Himalayas and adjacent ranges and the Tibetan Highlands [or Plateau] of Asia, the eastern highlands of Africa, and the central portions of Borneo and New Guinea)

Highland climates tend to resemble cooler, wetter versions of the climates of nearby lowlands in terms of their annual temperature ranges and seasonality of precipitation.