Download Climate - Willis High School

Climate
What is climate?
• Long term weather
pattern.
• Determined by
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Latitude
Air Masses
Continentality
Elevation
Mountains
Ocean Currents
Pressure/Prevailing
Winds
– Storms
Low Latitude
Tropical Between Tropic of
Cancer and Tropic
of Capricorn
Tropical
Wet:
•Warm
Temperatures
•Large amounts of
rain year-round
Savannah
•20-30 degrees N &
S of Equator
•Wet and Dry
seasons
Mid Latitude
MidLatitude
• Mediterranean
– Western edge of
continent
– Mild wet winters
– Warm dry summers
– S. California, S. Africa,
Mediterranean area
MidLatitude
• Humid Subtropical
– Eastern side of continent
– Wet summers
– Shorter growing season
than Med. climate
MidLatitude
• Marine West Coast
– Western edge of
continent
– Wind off water
moderates temperature
– Mild summers
– Cool winters
– Northwestern US,
western Europe
Severe MidLatitude
• Humid Continental
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Eastern side of continent
Short summers
Long, cold winters
Eastern North America,
central Europe, Asia
• Sub-Arctic
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long, cold, dark, winter
Short, cool summer
7 months below freezing
Ice from September to
May
High Latitude
• Tundra
– 1 month above freezing
– Near Arctic Circle, North
America and Asia
• Ice Cap
– 9% of earth’s surface
– Warmest month
averages below 0
– Very little precipitation –
less than 5 inches per
year
Any Latitude
• Dry Climates
– Desert
• Less than 10 inches
precipitation per
year
• Can be cold or hot
– Semi arid
• Edges of deserts
• Grasses, but not
enough rain for
trees
Highland or Mountain
• 30 cooler for every 1000
feet up
Snow on north face of
mountains above 12,000 ft,
Colorado, July, 2009