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Factors Affecting Climate
Weather and Climate
What is the weather like in Toronto?
What is the climate of Toronto?
Are these different questions?
Weather or Climate?
Toronto has daily weather
Weather is the day-to-day combination of:
• precipitation (rain and snow) and humidity
• temperature
• clouds and wind
Weather changes every day
Climate
Climate is the long-term patterns in weather for a
specific location
How would you describe the long-term pattern of
weather in Toronto?
Six Factors Affecting Climate
L  Latitude
O  Ocean currents
W  Winds & Air Masses
E  Elevation
R  Relief (Mountains)
Near Water
L - Latitude
Average temperature gets colder the further you
travel from the equator
Why?
The energy from sun is stronger
at the equator because it
strikes the surface
of the earth more directly than
at the poles
COLDER
WARMER
WARMER
COLDER
Path of the sun; Fairbanks, Alaska
O – Ocean Currents
The temperature of water impacts the temperature
of the surrounding air
• Warm water (from the equator) warms the air
• Cold water (from the north and south poles)
cools the air
Major Ocean Currents
Bay of Fundy (Atlantic Coast of Canada)
where warm and cold ocean currents meet
W – Winds & Air Masses
• Air masses that form over the ocean carry lots
of moisture (leads to precipitation)
• Air masses that form over land have very little
moisture (can lead to deserts)
Vancouver, BC
Lots of rain, right on the Pacific coast
E - Elevation
As you climb higher above sea level, temperature
goes down
• Temperature drops 1°C for every 100m of elevation
• Air becomes less dense, cannot hold onto heat
Snow Line on Mount Cotopaxi, Ecuador
R – Relief (Mountains)
• Mountains block clouds
– Wind pushes clouds up the side of the mountain
• Air cools, moisture turns into clouds and eventually
falls as rain on windward side
– Relief or Orographic Precipitation
• Air travels down the far side of the mountain, but has
no moisture; very dry called a RAIN SHADOW
• One side of a mountain gets lots of rain, the other side
gets very little
The Rain Shadow
Moist air cools,
condenses and
falls as
precipitation
Moist air
forced to rise
up the side of
the mountain
Moist side Dry side
Dry air falls down
the back of the
mountain, creates
RAIN SHADOW (very
dry area)
Near Water
• Land close to water (great lakes or oceans) has a
maritime climate
– Lots of precipitation
– Temperature range is small
• Land far from water has a continental climate
– Not very much precipitation
– Large temperature range
Water absorbs heat in the summer (keeps land cool)
and gives off heat in the winter (keeps land warm)
Coldest Place in Canada
Using information from an atlas and the six factors affecting
climate, brainstorm where you think the coldest place would
be in Canada.
Coldest Place Contenders
Place
Reasons
Franklin, NU
Far from water, L, Win, Ele, O
Bathurst Inlet, NWT
Near water, historical temp,
latitude, Wind
Ellesmere Island, NU
Latitude, Elevation, Winds
Yellowknife, NWT
Latitude,
Snag, Yukon
• -63.9 degrees Celsius on
February 3, 1947
• Why was it so cold?
Weather Right Now
• Weather Extremes RIGHT NOW!
• http://www.wxnow.com/Weather/WxExtremes
CLIMATE GRAPH
Climate Graph: Temperature
Climate Graph: Temperature
Climate Graph: Precipitation