Köppen climate classification
Encyclopedia
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification system
Climate classification
Climate classification systems are ways of classifying the world's climates. A climate classification may correlate closely with a biome category, as climate is a major influence on biological life in a region...

s. It was first published by Crimea German climatologist Wladimir Köppen
Wladimir Köppen
Wladimir Peter Köppen was a Russian geographer, meteorologist, climatologist and botanist. After studies in St. Petersburg, he spent the bulk of his life and professional career in Germany and Austria...

 in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen himself, notably in 1918 and 1936. Later, German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 climatologist Rudolf Geiger
Rudolf Geiger
Rudolf Oskar Robert Williams Geiger was a German meteorologist and climatologist....

 collaborated with Köppen on changes to the classification system, which is thus sometimes referred to as the Köppen–Geiger climate classification system.
The system is based on the concept that native vegetation
Vegetation
Vegetation is a general term for the plant life of a region; it refers to the ground cover provided by plants. It is a general term, without specific reference to particular taxa, life forms, structure, spatial extent, or any other specific botanical or geographic characteristics. It is broader...

 is the best expression of climate
Climate
Climate encompasses the statistics of temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind, rainfall, atmospheric particle count and other meteorological elemental measurements in a given region over long periods...

. Thus, climate zone boundaries have been selected with vegetation distribution in mind. It combines average annual and monthly temperature
Temperature
Temperature is a physical property of matter that quantitatively expresses the common notions of hot and cold. Objects of low temperature are cold, while various degrees of higher temperatures are referred to as warm or hot...

s and precipitation
Precipitation (meteorology)
In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation (also known as one of the classes of hydrometeors, which are atmospheric water phenomena is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravity. The main forms of precipitation...

, and the seasonality of precipitation.

Scheme

Köppen climate classification scheme divides the climates into five main groups and several types and subtypes. Each particular climate type is represented by a 2 to 4 letter symbol.

GROUP A: Tropical/megathermal climates

Tropical climates are characterized by constant high temperature (at sea level and low elevations) — all twelve months of the year have average temperatures of 18 °C (64.4 °F) or higher. They are subdivided as follows:
  • Tropical rainforest climate
    Tropical rainforest climate
    A tropical rainforest climate, also known as an equatorial climate, is a tropical climate usually found along the equator...

    (Af): All twelve months have average precipitation of at least 60 mm (2.4 in). These climates usually occur within 5–10° latitude of the equator. In some eastern-coast areas, they may extend to as much as 25° away from the equator. This climate is dominated by the Doldrums
    Doldrums
    The doldrums is a colloquial expression derived from historical maritime usage for those parts of the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean affected by the Intertropical Convergence Zone, a low-pressure area around the equator where the prevailing winds are calm...

     Low Pressure System all year round, and therefore has no natural seasons.
    • Examples:
      • Belém
        Belém
        Belém is a Brazilian city, the capital and largest city of state of Pará, in the country's north region. It is the entrance gate to the Amazon with a busy port, airport and bus/coach station...

        , Brazil
        Brazil
        Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

      • Hilo, Hawaii, United States
        United States
        The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

      • Singapore
        Singapore
        Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

    • Some of the places that have this climate are indeed uniformly and monotonously wet throughout the year (e.g., the northwest Pacific
      Pacific Ocean
      The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

       coast of South
      South America
      South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

       and Central America
      Central America
      Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...

      , from Ecuador
      Ecuador
      Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...

       to Costa Rica
      Costa Rica
      Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....

      , see for instance, Andagoya
      Andagoya
      Andagoya is a village in west-central Colombia whose chief claim to fame is its spectacularly monotonous climate, in terms of both temperature and precipitation....

      , Colombia
      Colombia
      Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

      ), but in many cases the period of higher sun and longer days is distinctly wettest (as at Palembang
      Palembang
      Palembang is the capital city of the South Sumatra province in Indonesia. Palembang is one of the oldest cities in Indonesia, and has a history of being a capital of a maritime empire. Located on the Musi River banks on the east coast of southern Sumatra island, it has an area of 400.61 square...

      , Indonesia
      Indonesia
      Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

      ) or the time of lower sun and shorter days may have more rain (as at Sitiawan
      Sitiawan
      Sitiawan, Malaysia is a region in the Manjung district of Perak, Malaysia....

      , Malaysia).
    • A few places with this climate are found at the outer edge of the tropics, almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere; one example is Santos
      Santos (São Paulo)
      -Sister cities: Shimonoseki, Japan Nagasaki, Japan Funchal, Portugal Trieste, Italy Coimbra, Portugal Ansião, Portugal Arouca, Portugal Ushuaia, Argentina Havana, Cuba Taizhou. China Ningbo. China Constanţa, Romania Ulsan, South Korea Colón, Panama* Cadiz, Spain...

      , Brazil
      Brazil
      Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

      .
      Note. The term aseasonal
      Season
      A season is a division of the year, marked by changes in weather, ecology, and hours of daylight.Seasons result from the yearly revolution of the Earth around the Sun and the tilt of the Earth's axis relative to the plane of revolution...

       refers to the lack in the tropical zone of large differences in day light hours and mean monthly (or daily) temperature throughout the year. There are annual cyclic changes in the tropics, not as predictable as those in the temperate zone, albeit unrelated to temperature but to water availability whether as rain, mist, soil, or ground water. Plant response (e. g., phenology
      Phenology
      Phenology is the study of periodic plant and animal life cycle events and how these are influenced by seasonal and interannual variations in climate...

      ), animal (feeding, migration, reproduction, et cetera), and human activities (plant sowing, harvesting, hunting, fishing, et cetera) are tuned to this seasonality. Indeed, in tropical South America and Central America, the rainy season (and the high water season) is called Invierno or Inverno, even though it could occur in the northern hemisphere summer; likewise, the dry season (and low water season) is called Verano
      Dry season
      The dry season is a term commonly used when describing the weather in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which oscillates from the northern to the southern tropics over the course of the year...

       or Verão and can occur in the northern hemisphere winter.
  • Tropical monsoon climate
    Tropical monsoon climate
    Tropical monsoon climate, occasionally also known as a tropical wet climate or tropical monsoon and trade-wind littoral climate in climate classification, is a relatively rare type of climate that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification category "Am."Tropical monsoon climates have monthly...

    (Am): This type of climate, most common in South America
    South America
    South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

    , results from the monsoon
    Monsoon
    Monsoon is traditionally defined as a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation, but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with the asymmetric heating of land and sea...

     winds which change direction according to the seasons. This climate has a driest month (which nearly always occurs at or soon after the "winter" solstice for that side of the equator) with rainfall less than 60 mm, but more than (100 − [total annual precipitation {mm}/25]).
    • Examples:
      • Conakry
        Conakry
        Conakry is the capital and largest city of Guinea. Conakry is a port city on the Atlantic Ocean and serves as the economic, financial and cultural centre of Guinea with a 2009 population of 1,548,500...

        , Guinea
        Guinea
        Guinea , officially the Republic of Guinea , is a country in West Africa. Formerly known as French Guinea , it is today sometimes called Guinea-Conakry to distinguish it from its neighbour Guinea-Bissau. Guinea is divided into eight administrative regions and subdivided into thirty-three prefectures...

      • Chittagong
        Chittagong
        Chittagong ) is a city in southeastern Bangladesh and the capital of an eponymous district and division. Built on the banks of the Karnaphuli River, the city is home to Bangladesh's busiest seaport and has a population of over 4.5 million, making it the second largest city in the country.A trading...

        , Bangladesh
        Bangladesh
        Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...

      • Miami, Florida
        Florida
        Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

        , United States
        United States
        The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

      • Cairns, Australia
        Australia
        Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

    • There is also another scenario under which some places fit into this category; this is referred to as the trade-wind littoral
      Littoral
      The littoral zone is that part of a sea, lake or river that is close to the shore. In coastal environments the littoral zone extends from the high water mark, which is rarely inundated, to shoreline areas that are permanently submerged. It always includes this intertidal zone and is often used to...

      climate because easterly winds bring enough precipitation during the "winter" months to prevent the climate from becoming a tropical wet-and-dry climate. Nassau, Bahamas
      Nassau, Bahamas
      Nassau is the capital, largest city, and commercial centre of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. The city has a population of 248,948 , 70 percent of the entire population of The Bahamas...

       is included among these locations.
  • Tropical wet and dry or savanna
    Tropical savanna climate
    Tropical savanna climate or tropical wet and dry climate is a type of climate that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification categories "Aw" and '"As."...

     climate
    (Aw): These climates have a pronounced dry season, with the driest month having precipitation less than 60 mm and also less than (100 − [total annual precipitation {mm}/25]).
    • Examples:
      • Jakarta
        Jakarta
        Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...

        , Indonesia
        Indonesia
        Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

      • Mumbai, Maharashtra
        Maharashtra
        Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...

        , India
        India
        India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

      • Rio de Janeiro
        Rio de Janeiro
        Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...

        , Rio de Janeiro
        Rio de Janeiro (state)
        Rio de Janeiro is one of the 27 states of Brazil.Rio de Janeiro has the second largest economy of Brazil behind only São Paulo state.The state of Rio de Janeiro is located within the Brazilian geopolitical region classified as the Southeast...

        , Brazil
        Brazil
        Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

      • Veracruz
        Veracruz, Veracruz
        Veracruz, officially known as Heroica Veracruz, is a major port city and municipality on the Gulf of Mexico in the Mexican state of Veracruz. The city is located in the central part of the state. It is located along Federal Highway 140 from the state capital Xalapa, and is the state's most...

        , Veracruz
        Veracruz
        Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave , is one of the 31 states that, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided in 212 municipalities and its capital city is...

        , Mexico
        Mexico
        The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

      • Lagos
        Lagos
        Lagos is a port and the most populous conurbation in Nigeria. With a population of 7,937,932, it is currently the third most populous city in Africa after Cairo and Kinshasa, and currently estimated to be the second fastest growing city in Africa...

        , Lagos State
        Lagos State
        Lagos State is an administrative division of Nigeria, located in the southwestern part of the country. The smallest in area of Nigeria's states, Lagos State is the most populous state in Nigeria and arguably the most economically important state of the country and west Africa, containing Lagos, the...

        , Nigeria
        Nigeria
        Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...

      • Darwin
        Darwin, Northern Territory
        Darwin is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. Situated on the Timor Sea, Darwin has a population of 127,500, making it by far the largest and most populated city in the sparsely populated Northern Territory, but the least populous of all Australia's capital cities...

        , Northern Territory
        Northern Territory
        The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...

        , Australia
        Australia
        Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

    • Most places that have this climate are found at the outer margins of the tropical zone, but occasionally an inner-tropical location (e.g., San Marcos, Antioquia
      San Marcos, Antioquia
      San Marcos is a town in Antioquia department in Colombia. It is approximately 175 miles north of Medellín, in the heart of Colombia's coffee-growing region.San Marcos is located at . The symbol for its airport is SRS....

      , Colombia
      Colombia
      Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

      ) also qualifies. Actually, the Caribbean
      Caribbean Sea
      The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean located in the tropics of the Western hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico and Central America to the west and southwest, to the north by the Greater Antilles, and to the east by the Lesser Antilles....

       coast, eastward from Urabá gulf on the Colombia
      Colombia
      Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

      Panamá
      Panama
      Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...

       border to the Orinoco river delta, on the Atlantic ocean
      Atlantic Ocean
      The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...

       (ca. 4,000 km), have long dry periods (the extreme is the BSh climate (see below), characterised by very low, unreliable precipitation, present, for instance, in extensive areas in the Guajira, and Coro
      Coro region
      The Coro region is the hilly and semi-mountainous area in northwest Venezuela, north of the Mérida Andes and east of the Maracaibo Basin, extending north to the Caribbean coast. It consists mostly of east-west running ridges, with the exception of the Sierra de Siruma which run north-south...

      , western Venezuela
      Venezuela
      Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...

      , the northernmost peninsulas in South America, which receive <300 mm total annual precipitation, practically all in two or three months). This condition extends to the Lesser Antilles
      Lesser Antilles
      The Lesser Antilles are a long, partly volcanic island arc in the Western Hemisphere. Most of its islands form the eastern boundary of the Caribbean Sea with the Atlantic Ocean, with the remainder located in the southern Caribbean just north of South America...

       and Greater Antilles
      Greater Antilles
      The Greater Antilles are one of three island groups in the Caribbean. Comprising Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola , and Puerto Rico, the Greater Antilles constitute almost 90% of the land mass of the entire West Indies.-Greater Antilles in context :The islands of the Caribbean Sea, collectively known as...

       forming the Circumcaribbean dry belt. The length and severity of the dry season diminishes inland (southward); at the latitude of the Amazon river — which flows eastward, just south of the equatorial line
      Equator
      An equator is the intersection of a sphere's surface with the plane perpendicular to the sphere's axis of rotation and containing the sphere's center of mass....

       — the climate is Af. East from the Andes
      Andes
      The Andes is the world's longest continental mountain range. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about long, about to wide , and of an average height of about .Along its length, the Andes is split into several ranges, which are separated...

      , between the dry, arid Caribbean and the ever-wet Amazon are the Orinoco river' Llanos
      Llanos
      The Llanos is a vast tropical grassland plain situated to the east of the Andes in Colombia and Venezuela, in northwestern South America. It is an ecoregion of the Flooded grasslands and savannas Biome....

       or Savanna
      Savanna
      A savanna, or savannah, is a grassland ecosystem characterized by the trees being sufficiently small or widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to support an unbroken herbaceous layer consisting primarily of C4 grasses.Some...

      s, from where this climate takes its name.
    • Sometimes As is used in place of Aw if the dry season occurs during the time of higher sun and longer days. This is the case in parts of Hawaii
      Hawaii
      Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

      , East Africa (Mombasa
      Mombasa
      Mombasa is the second-largest city in Kenya. Lying next to the Indian Ocean, it has a major port and an international airport. The city also serves as the centre of the coastal tourism industry....

      , Kenya
      Kenya
      Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...

      ) and Sri Lanka
      Sri Lanka
      Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...

       (Trincomalee
      Trincomalee
      Trincomalee is a port city in Eastern Province, Sri Lanka and lies on the east coast of the island, about 113 miles south of Jaffna. It has a population of approximately 100,000 . The city is built on a peninsula, which divides the inner and outer harbours. Overlooking the Kottiyar Bay,...

      ), for instance. In most places that have tropical wet and dry climates, however, the dry season occurs during the time of lower sun and shorter days because of rainshadow effects during the 'high-sun' part of the year.
    • Examples:
      • Honolulu, Hawaii
        Hawaii
        Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

        , United States
        United States
        The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...


GROUP B: Dry (arid and semiarid) climates

These climates are characterized by the fact that precipitation is less than potential evapotranspiration. The threshold is determined as follows:
  • To find the precipitation threshold (in millimeters), multiply the average annual temperature in °C by 20, then add 280 if 70% or more of the total precipitation is in the high-sun half of the year (April through September in the Northern Hemisphere, or October through March in the Southern), or 140 if 30%–70% of the total precipitation is received during the applicable period, or 0 if less than 30% of the total precipitation is so received.
  • If the annual precipitation is less than half the threshold for Group B, it is classified as BW (desert climate
    Desert climate
    A desert climate , also known as an arid climate, is a climate that does not meet the criteria to be classified as a polar climate, and in which precipitation is too low to sustain any vegetation at all, or at most a very scanty scrub.An area that features this climate usually experiences less than...

    ); if it is less than the threshold but more than half the threshold, it is classified as BS (steppe climate). If it's more than the threshold, the area does not have a Group B climate.
  • A third letter can be included to indicate temperature. Originally, h signified low latitude climate (average annual temperature above 18 °C) while k signified middle latitude climate (average annual temperature below 18 °C (64.4 °F)), but the more common practice today (especially in the United States
    United States
    The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

    ) is to use h to mean that the coldest month has an average temperature that is above 0 °C (32 °F), with k denoting that at least one month averages below 0 °C.
    • Examples:
      • Konya
        Konya
        Konya is a city in the Central Anatolia Region of Turkey. The metropolitan area in the entire Konya Province had a population of 1,036,027 as of 2010, making the city seventh most populous in Turkey.-Etymology:...

        , Turkey
        Turkey
        Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

        (BSk)
      • Murcia
        Murcia
        -History:It is widely believed that Murcia's name is derived from the Latin words of Myrtea or Murtea, meaning land of Myrtle , although it may also be a derivation of the word Murtia, which would mean Murtius Village...

        , Spain
        Spain
        Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

         (BSh)
      • Albacete
        Albacete
        Albacete is a city and municipality in southeastern Spain, 258 km southeast of Madrid, the capital of the province of Albacete in the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha. The municipality had a population of c. 169,700 in 2009....

        , Spain
        Spain
        Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

         (BSk)
      • Almería
        Almería
        Almería is a city in Andalusia, Spain, on the Mediterranean Sea. It is the capital of the province of the same name.-Toponym:Tradition says that the name Almería stems from the Arabic المرية Al-Mariyya: "The Mirror", comparing it to "The Mirror of the Sea"...

        , Spain
        Spain
        Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

        (BSh)
      • Yuma
        Yuma, Arizona
        Yuma is a city in and the county seat of Yuma County, Arizona, United States. It is located in the southwestern corner of the state, and the population of the city was 77,515 at the 2000 census, with a 2008 Census Bureau estimated population of 90,041....

        , Arizona
        Arizona
        Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...

        , United States
        United States
        The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

         (BWh)
      • Boise, Idaho
        Idaho
        Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....

        , United States
        United States
        The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

         (BSk)
      • Denver, Colorado
        Colorado
        Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

        , United States
        United States
        The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

         (BSk)
      • Medicine Hat, Alberta
        Alberta
        Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...

        , Canada
        Canada
        Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

         (BSk)
      • Ogallala
        Ogallala, Nebraska
        Ogallala is a city in Keith County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 4,737 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Keith County. In the days of the Nebraska Territory, the city was a stop on the Pony Express and later along the transcontinental railroad...

        , Nebraska
        Nebraska
        Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....

        , United States
        United States
        The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

         (BSk)
      • Mossoró
        Mossoró
        Mossoró is the second most populous city in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. It is equidistant from Natal , the state capital of Rio Grande do Norte, and from Fortaleza , the capital of the state of Ceará...

        , Rio Grande do Norte
        Rio Grande do Norte
        Rio Grande do Norte is one of the states of Brazil, located in the northeastern region of the country, occupying the northeasternmost tip of the South American continent. Because of its geographic position, Rio Grande do Norte has a strategic importance. The capital and largest city is Natal...

        , Brazil
        Brazil
        Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

         (BSh)
      • Dubai
        Dubai
        Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...

        , United Arab Emirates
        United Arab Emirates
        The United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...

         (BWh)
    • Desert areas situated along the west coasts of continents at tropical or near-tropical locations are characterized by cooler temperatures than encountered elsewhere at comparable latitudes (due to the nearby presence of cold ocean currents) and frequent fog and low clouds, despite the fact that these places rank among the driest on earth in terms of actual precipitation received. This climate is sometimes labelled BWn and examples can be found at Lima, Peru
      Peru
      Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....

       and Walvis Bay
      Walvis Bay
      Walvis Bay , is a city in Namibia and the name of the bay on which it lies...

      , Namibia
      Namibia
      Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March...

      . The BSn category can be found in foggy coastal steppes.
  • On occasion, a fourth letter is added to indicate if either the winter or summer is "wetter" than the other half of the year. To qualify, the wettest month must have at least 60 mm (2.4 in) of average precipitation if all twelve months are above 18 °C (64.4 °F), or 30 mm (1.2 in) if not; plus at least 70% of the total precipitation must be in the same half of the year as the wettest month — but the letter used indicates when the dry season occurs, not the "wet" one. This would result in Khartoum
    Khartoum
    Khartoum is the capital and largest city of Sudan and of Khartoum State. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile flowing north from Lake Victoria, and the Blue Nile flowing west from Ethiopia. The location where the two Niles meet is known as "al-Mogran"...

    , Sudan
    Sudan
    Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...

     being reckoned as BWhw, Niamey
    Niamey
    -Population:While Niamey's population has grown steadily since independence, the droughts of the early 1970s and 1980s, along with the economic crisis of the early 1980s, have propelled an exodus of rural inhabitants to Niger's largest city...

    , Niger
    Niger
    Niger , officially named the Republic of Niger, is a landlocked country in Western Africa, named after the Niger River. It borders Nigeria and Benin to the south, Burkina Faso and Mali to the west, Algeria and Libya to the north and Chad to the east...

     as BShw, El Arish, Egypt
    Egypt
    Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

     as BWhs, Asbi'ah
    Asbi'ah
    Asbi'a is a town in Libya located approximately south of Tripoli, the country's capital.Situated in a transitional steppe zone on the northern fringe of the Sahara Desert, Asbi'a is east of 'Aziziya, where on 13 September 1922, the temperature reached 57.8°C , the highest temperature ever...

    , Libya
    Libya
    Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....

     as BShs, Ömnögovi Province
    Ömnögovi Province
    Ömnögovi is an aimag of Mongolia, located in the south of the country, in the Gobi Desert. Ömnögovi is Mongolia's largest aimag. The capital is Dalanzadgad....

    , Mongolia
    Mongolia
    Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...

     as BWkw, and Xining
    Xining
    Xining is the capital of Qinghai province, People's Republic of China, and the largest city on the Tibetan Plateau. It has 2,208,708 inhabitants at the 2010 census whom 1,198,304 live in the built up area made of 4 urban districts.-History:...

    , China
    China
    Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

     as BSkw (BWks and BSks do not exist if 0 °C in the coldest month is recognized as the h/k boundary). If the standards for neither w nor s are met, no fourth letter is added.

GROUP C: Temperate/mesothermal climates

These climates have an average temperature above 10 °C (50 °F) in their warmest months (April to September in northern hemisphere?), and a coldest month average between -3 °C and 18 °C (64.4 °F).

Some climatologists, particularly in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, however, prefer to observe 0 °C (32 °F) rather than -3 °C in the coldest month as the boundary between this group and Group D; this is done to prevent certain headland locations in or near New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...

 — principally Cape Cod
Cape Cod
Cape Cod, often referred to locally as simply the Cape, is a cape in the easternmost portion of the state of Massachusetts, in the Northeastern United States...

 — and such nearby islands as Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard
Martha's Vineyard
Martha's Vineyard is an island located south of Cape Cod in Massachusetts, known for being an affluent summer colony....

, from fitting into the Maritime Temperate category noted below; this category is alternately known as the Marine West Coast climate, and eliminating the aforementioned locations indeed confines it exclusively to places found along the western margins of the continents, at least in the Northern Hemisphere. This also moves some mid-latitude areas – such as parts of the Ohio Valley and some areas in the Mid-Atlantic States
Mid-Atlantic States
The Mid-Atlantic states, also called middle Atlantic states or simply the mid Atlantic, form a region of the United States generally located between New England and the South...

, plus parts of east-central Asia – from humid subtropical to humid continental.
  • The second letter indicates the precipitation pattern — w indicates dry winters (driest winter month average precipitation less than one-tenth wettest summer month average precipitation; one variation also requires that the driest winter month have less than 30 mm average precipitation), s indicates dry summers (June, July and August in northern hemisphere?) (driest summer month less than 30 mm average precipitation and less than one-third wettest winter month precipitation) and f means significant precipitation in all seasons (neither above mentioned set of conditions fulfilled).
  • The third letter indicates the degree of summer heat — a indicates warmest month average temperature above 22 °C (71.6 °F) with at least 4 months averaging above 10 °C (50 °F), b indicates warmest month averaging below 22 °C, but with at least 4 months averaging above 10 °C, while c means 3 or fewer months with mean temperatures above 10 °C.
  • The order of these two letters is sometimes reversed, especially by climatologists in the United States
    United States
    The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

    .
  • Group C climates are subdivided as follows:
    • Dry-summer subtropical or Mediterranean climate
      Mediterranean climate
      A Mediterranean climate is the climate typical of most of the lands in the Mediterranean Basin, and is a particular variety of subtropical climate...

      s
      (Csa, Csb): These climates usually occur on the western sides of continents between the latitudes of 30° and 45°. These climates are in the polar front region in winter, and thus have moderate temperatures and changeable, rainy weather. Summers are hot and dry, due to the domination of the subtropical high pressure systems, except in the immediate coastal areas, where summers are milder due to the nearby presence of cold ocean currents that may bring fog
      Fog
      Fog is a collection of water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth's surface. While fog is a type of stratus cloud, the term "fog" is typically distinguished from the more generic term "cloud" in that fog is low-lying, and the moisture in the fog is often generated...

       but prevent rain.
      • Examples:
        • Adelaide
          Adelaide
          Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...

          , South Australia
          South Australia
          South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...

          , Australia
          Australia
          Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

           (Csa)
        • Antalya
          Antalya
          Antalya is a city on the Mediterranean coast of southwestern Turkey. With a population 1,001,318 as of 2010. It is the eighth most populous city in Turkey and country's biggest international sea resort.- History :...

          , Turkey
          Turkey
          Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

           (Csa)
        • Athens
          Athens
          Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...

          , Greece
          Greece
          Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

           (Csa)
        • Barcelona
          Barcelona
          Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...

          , Spain
          Spain
          Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

           (Csa)
        • Cape Town
          Cape Town
          Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...

          , South Africa
          South Africa
          The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

           (Csa)
        • Coimbra
          Coimbra
          Coimbra is a city in the municipality of Coimbra in Portugal. Although it served as the nation's capital during the High Middle Ages, it is better-known for its university, the University of Coimbra, which is one of the oldest in Europe and the oldest academic institution in the...

          , Portugal
          Portugal
          Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

           (Csa)
        • Izmir
          Izmir
          Izmir is a large metropolis in the western extremity of Anatolia. The metropolitan area in the entire Izmir Province had a population of 3.35 million as of 2010, making the city third most populous in Turkey...

          , Turkey
          Turkey
          Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

           (Csa)
        • Jerash
          Jerash
          Jerash, the Gerasa of Antiquity, is the capital and largest city of Jerash Governorate , which is situated in the north of Jordan, north of the capital Amman towards Syria...

          , Jordan
          Jordan
          Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...

           (Csa)
        • Jerusalem, Israel
          Israel
          The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

           (Csa)
        • Lisbon
          Lisbon
          Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...

          , Portugal
          Portugal
          Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

           (Csa)
        • Los Angeles
          Los Ángeles
          Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

          , California
          California
          California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

          , United States
          United States
          The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

           (Csa)
        • Madrid
          Madrid
          Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...

          , Spain
          Spain
          Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

           (Csa)
        • Marseille
          Marseille
          Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...

          , France
          France
          The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

           (Csa)
        • Medford
          Medford, Oregon
          Medford is a city in Jackson County, Oregon, United States. As of the 2010 US Census, the city had a total population of 74,907 and a metropolitan area population of 207,010, making the Medford MSA the 4th largest metro area in Oregon...

          , Oregon
          Oregon
          Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

          , United States
          United States
          The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

           (inland) (Csa)
        • Palermo
          Palermo
          Palermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old...

          , Italy
          Italy
          Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

           (Csa)
        • Perth
          Perth, Western Australia
          Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....

          , Australia
          Australia
          Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

           (Csa)
        • Porto
          Porto
          Porto , also known as Oporto in English, is the second largest city in Portugal and one of the major urban areas in the Iberian Peninsula. Its administrative limits include a population of 237,559 inhabitants distributed within 15 civil parishes...

          , Portugal
          Portugal
          Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

           (Csb)
        • Risan
          Risan
          Risan is a town in the Bay of Kotor, Montenegro...

          , Montenegro
          Montenegro
          Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...

           (Csb)
        • Sacramento, California
          Sacramento, California
          Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...

          , United States
          United States
          The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

            (Csa)
        • San Francisco, California
          California
          California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

          , United States
          United States
          The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

           (Csb)
        • San Jose
          San Jose, California
          San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...

          , California
          California
          California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

          , United States
          United States
          The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

           (Csb)
        • Sanremo
          Sanremo
          Sanremo or San Remo is a city with about 57,000 inhabitants on the Mediterranean coast of western Liguria in north-western Italy. Founded in Roman times, the city is best known as a tourist destination on the Italian Riviera. It hosts numerous cultural events, such as the Sanremo Music Festival...

          , Italy
          Italy
          Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

           (Csa)
        • Santiago
          Santiago, Chile
          Santiago , also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile, and the center of its largest conurbation . It is located in the country's central valley, at an elevation of above mean sea level...

          , Chile
          Chile
          Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

           (Csb)
        • Seville
          Seville
          Seville is the artistic, historic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level...

          , Spain
          Spain
          Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

           (Csa)
        • Split
          Split (city)
          Split is a Mediterranean city on the eastern shores of the Adriatic Sea, centered around the ancient Roman Palace of the Emperor Diocletian and its wide port bay. With a population of 178,192 citizens, and a metropolitan area numbering up to 467,899, Split is by far the largest Dalmatian city and...

          , Croatia
          Croatia
          Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...

           (Csa)
        • Tel Aviv
          Tel Aviv
          Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...

          , Israel
          Israel
          The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

           (Csa)
        • Valladolid
          Valladolid
          Valladolid is a historic city and municipality in north-central Spain, situated at the confluence of the Pisuerga and Esgueva rivers, and located within three wine-making regions: Ribera del Duero, Rueda and Cigales...

          , Spain
          Spain
          Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

           (Csb)
    • Under the Köppen-Geiger classification, dry-summer subtropical (Csb) extends to additional areas not typically associated with a typical Mediterranean climate, such as much of the Pacific Northwest
      Pacific Northwest
      The Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...

      , much of southern Chile
      Chile
      Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

      , parts of west-central Argentina
      Argentina
      Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

      , and areas of northern Spain
      Spain
      Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

       and Portugal
      Portugal
      Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

      . Many of these areas would be Oceanic
      Oceanic climate
      An oceanic climate, also called marine west coast climate, maritime climate, Cascadian climate and British climate for Köppen climate classification Cfb and subtropical highland for Köppen Cfb or Cwb, is a type of climate typically found along the west coasts at the middle latitudes of some of the...

       (Cfb), except dry-summer patterns meet Köppen's Cs minimum thresholds. Additional highland areas in the subtropics also meet Cs requirements, although they too are not normally associated with Mediterranean climates.
      • Examples:
        • Portland, Oregon
          Portland, Oregon
          Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...

          , United States
          United States
          The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

           (Csb sometimes Cfb )
        • Seattle, Washington, United States
          United States
          The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

           (Csb sometimes Cfb )
        • Victoria
          Victoria, British Columbia
          Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...

          , British Columbia
          British Columbia
          British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

          , Canada
          Canada
          Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

           (Csb sometimes Cfb )
        • Vigo
          Vigo
          Vigo is a city and municipality in north-west Spain, in Galicia, situated on the ria of the same name on the Atlantic Ocean.-Population:...

          , Spain
          Spain
          Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

           (Csb / Cfb )
    • Humid subtropical climate
      Humid subtropical climate
      A humid subtropical climate is a climate zone characterized by hot, humid summers and mild to cool winters...

      s
      (Cfa, Cwa): These climates usually occur in the interiors of continents, or on their east coasts, mainly in the high 20s and 30s latitude (although they may occur as far north as 46°N in Europe). Unlike the Mediterranean climates, the summers are humid due to unstable tropical air masses, or onshore Trade Winds. In eastern Asia
      Asia
      Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

      , winters can be dry (and colder than other places at a corresponding latitude) because of the Siberian high pressure system, and summers very wet due to the Southwest Asian monsoon
      Monsoon
      Monsoon is traditionally defined as a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation, but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with the asymmetric heating of land and sea...

      al influence.
      • Examples:
        • Atlanta, Georgia
          Atlanta, Georgia
          Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...

          , United States
          United States
          The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

           (Cfa — uniform precipitation distribution)
        • Raleigh, North Carolina
          Raleigh, North Carolina
          Raleigh is the capital and the second largest city in the state of North Carolina as well as the seat of Wake County. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city's 2010 population was 403,892, over an area of , making Raleigh...

          , United States
          United States
          The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

           (Cfa)
        • Houston, Texas
          Houston, Texas
          Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...

          , United States
          United States
          The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

           (Cfa)
        • Belgrade
          Belgrade
          Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...

          , Serbia
          Serbia
          Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...

           (Cfa)
        • Edirne
          Edirne
          Edirne is a city in Eastern Thrace, the northwestern part of Turkey, close to the borders with Greece and Bulgaria. Edirne served as the capital city of the Ottoman Empire from 1365 to 1453, before Constantinople became the empire's new capital. At present, Edirne is the capital of the Edirne...

          , Turkey
          Turkey
          Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

           (Cfa)
        • Varna
          Varna
          Varna is the largest city and seaside resort on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast and third-largest in Bulgaria after Sofia and Plovdiv, with a population of 334,870 inhabitants according to Census 2011...

          , Bulgaria
          Bulgaria
          Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...

           (Cfa)
        • Corvo
          Corvo Island
          Corvo Island , literally the Island of the Crow, is the smallest and the northernmost island of the Azores archipelago and the northernmost in Macaronesia, with a population of approximately 468 inhabitants constituting the smallest single municipality in Azores and in Portugal.-History:A small...

          , Azores
          Azores
          The Archipelago of the Azores is composed of nine volcanic islands situated in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, and is located about west from Lisbon and about east from the east coast of North America. The islands, and their economic exclusion zone, form the Autonomous Region of the...

          , Portugal
          Portugal
          Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

           (Cfa)
        • Odessa
          Odessa
          Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...

          , Ukraine
          Ukraine
          Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

           (Cfa)
        • Tbilisi
          Tbilisi
          Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...

          , Georgia
          Georgia (country)
          Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...

           (Cfa)
        • Milan
          Milan
          Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...

          , Italy
          Italy
          Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

           (Cfa)
        • Buenos Aires
          Buenos Aires
          Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...

          , Argentina
          Argentina
          Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

           (Cfa — uniform precipitation distribution)
        • Porto Alegre
          Porto Alegre
          Porto Alegre is the tenth most populous municipality in Brazil, with 1,409,939 inhabitants, and the centre of Brazil's fourth largest metropolitan area . It is also the capital city of the southernmost Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. The city is the southernmost capital city of a Brazilian...

          , Brazil
          Brazil
          Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

           (Cfa — uniform precipitation distribution)
        • São Paulo
          São Paulo
          São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...

          , São Paulo
          São Paulo (state)
          São Paulo is a state in Brazil. It is the major industrial and economic powerhouse of the Brazilian economy. Named after Saint Paul, São Paulo has the largest population, industrial complex, and economic production in the country. It is the richest state in Brazil...

          , Brazil
          Brazil
          Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

           (Cfa)
        • Okinawa, Japan
          Japan
          Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

           (Cfa)
        • Brisbane
          Brisbane
          Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...

          , Queensland
          Queensland
          Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

          , Australia
          Australia
          Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

           (Cfa — uniform precipitation distribution)
        • Durban
          Durban
          Durban is the largest city in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal and the third largest city in South Africa. It forms part of the eThekwini metropolitan municipality. Durban is famous for being the busiest port in South Africa. It is also seen as one of the major centres of tourism...

          , KwaZulu-Natal
          KwaZulu-Natal
          KwaZulu-Natal is a province of South Africa. Prior to 1994, the territory now known as KwaZulu-Natal was made up of the province of Natal and the homeland of KwaZulu....

          , South Africa
          South Africa
          The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

           (Cfa — uniform precipitation distribution)
        • Guadalajara
          Guadalajara, Jalisco
          Guadalajara is the capital of the Mexican state of Jalisco, and the seat of the municipality of Guadalajara. The city is located in the central region of Jalisco in the western-pacific area of Mexico. With a population of 1,564,514 it is Mexico's second most populous municipality...

          , Jalisco
          Jalisco
          Jalisco officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Jalisco is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is located in Western Mexico and divided in 125 municipalities and its capital city is Guadalajara.It is one of the more important states...

          , Mexico
          Mexico
          The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

           (Cwa)
        • Lucknow
          Lucknow
          Lucknow is the capital city of Uttar Pradesh in India. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of Lucknow District and Lucknow Division....

          , Uttar Pradesh
          Uttar Pradesh
          Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...

          , India
          India
          India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

           (Cwa)
        • Lahore
          Lahore
          Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...

          , Punjab, Pakistan
          Pakistan
          Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

           (Cwa)
        • Zhengzhou
          Zhengzhou
          Zhengzhou , is the capital and largest city of Henan province in north-central China. A prefecture-level city, it also serves as the political, economic, technological, and educational centre of the province, as well as a major transportation hub for Central China...

          , China (Cwa)
        • Hong Kong
          Hong Kong
          Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

           (Cwa)
        • Busan
          Busan
          Busan , formerly spelled Pusan is South Korea's second largest metropolis after Seoul, with a population of around 3.6 million. The Metropolitan area population is 4,399,515 as of 2010. It is the largest port city in South Korea and the fifth largest port in the world...

          , South Korea (Cwa)
        • Hanoi
          Hanoi
          Hanoi , is the capital of Vietnam and the country's second largest city. Its population in 2009 was estimated at 2.6 million for urban districts, 6.5 million for the metropolitan jurisdiction. From 1010 until 1802, it was the most important political centre of Vietnam...

          , Vietnam
          Vietnam
          Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

           (Cwa)
    • Maritime Temperate climates or Oceanic climate
      Oceanic climate
      An oceanic climate, also called marine west coast climate, maritime climate, Cascadian climate and British climate for Köppen climate classification Cfb and subtropical highland for Köppen Cfb or Cwb, is a type of climate typically found along the west coasts at the middle latitudes of some of the...

      s
      (Cfb, Cwb, Cfc): Cfb climates usually occur on the western sides of continents between the latitudes of 45° and 55°; they are typically situated immediately poleward of the Mediterranean climates, although in Australia and extreme southern Africa this climate is found immediately poleward of the humid subtropical climate, and at a somewhat lower latitude. In western Europe, this climate occurs in coastal areas up to 63°N latitude. These climates are dominated all year round by the polar front, leading to changeable, often overcast weather. Summers are cool due to cloud cover, but winters are milder than other climates in similar latitudes.
      • Examples:
        • Bilbao
          Bilbao
          Bilbao ) is a Spanish municipality, capital of the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. With a population of 353,187 , it is the largest city of its autonomous community and the tenth largest in Spain...

          , Spain
          Spain
          Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

           (Cfbuniform precipitation distribution)
        • Limoges
          Limoges
          Limoges |Limousin]] dialect of Occitan) is a city and commune, the capital of the Haute-Vienne department and the administrative capital of the Limousin région in west-central France....

          , France
          France
          The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

           (Cfbuniform precipitation distribution)
        • Liverpool
          Liverpool
          Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

          , England
          England
          England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

          , United Kingdom
          United Kingdom
          The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

           (Cfbuniform precipitation distribution)
        • London
          London
          London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

          , England
          England
          England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

          , United Kingdom
          United Kingdom
          The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

           (Cfbuniform precipitation distribution)
        • Hamburg
          Hamburg
          -History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...

          , Germany
          Germany
          Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

           (Cfbuniform precipitation distribution)
        • Bergen
          Bergen
          Bergen is the second largest city in Norway with a population of as of , . Bergen is the administrative centre of Hordaland county. Greater Bergen or Bergen Metropolitan Area as defined by Statistics Norway, has a population of as of , ....

          , Norway
          Norway
          Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

           (Cfbuniform precipitation distribution)
        • Rize
          Rize
          Rize is the capital of Rize Province, in northeast Turkey, on the Black Sea coast.-Etymology:The name comes from Greek or Ριζαίον , meaning "mountain slopes". In modern times, its name in Greek was usually Ριζούντα . Its Latin forms are Rhizus and Rhizaeum...

          , Turkey
          Turkey
          Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

           (Cfbuniform precipitation distribution)
        • George
          George, Western Cape
          George is a city with 203,253 inhabitants in South Africa's Western Cape province. The city is a popular holiday and conference centre and the administrative and commercial hub of the Garden Route.- Location :...

          , South Africa
          South Africa
          The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

           (Cfbuniform precipitation distribution)
        • Melbourne
          Melbourne
          Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

          , Victoria
          Victoria (Australia)
          Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

          , Australia
          Australia
          Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

           (Cfbuniform precipitation distribution)
        • Hobart
          Hobart
          Hobart is the state capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Founded in 1804 as a penal colony,Hobart is Australia's second oldest capital city after Sydney. In 2009, the city had a greater area population of approximately 212,019. A resident of Hobart is known as...

          , Tasmania
          Tasmania
          Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...

          , Australia
          Australia
          Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

           (Cfbuniform precipitation distribution)
        • Wellington
          Wellington
          Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...

          , New Zealand
          New Zealand
          New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

           (Cfbuniform precipitation distribution)
        • Vancouver
          Vancouver
          Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...

          , British Columbia
          British Columbia
          British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

          , Canada
          Canada
          Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

           (Cfbuniform precipitation distribution, but with drying trend in summer similar to Csb)
        • Prince Rupert
          Prince Rupert, British Columbia
          Prince Rupert is a port city in the province of British Columbia, Canada. It is the land, air, and water transportation hub of British Columbia's North Coast, and home to some 12,815 people .-History:...

          , British Columbia
          British Columbia
          British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

          , Canada
          Canada
          Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

           (Cfbuniform precipitation distribution)
        • Castro
          Castro, Chile
          Castro is a city and commune in the Chilean island of Chiloé Island. Castro is the capital of the Chiloé Province in the Los Lagos Region. It is Chile's third oldest city in continued existence...

          , Chile
          Chile
          Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

           (Cfbuniform precipitation distribution)
        • Oviedo
          Oviedo
          Oviedo is the capital city of the Principality of Asturias in northern Spain. It is also the name of the municipality that contains the city....

          , Spain
          Spain
          Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

           (Cfbuniform precipitation distribution)
      • Cfb climates are also encountered at high elevations in certain subtropical and tropical areas, where the climate would be that of a subtropical/tropical rain forest if not for the altitude. These climates are called "Highlands". Examples include:
        • Curitiba
          Curitiba
          Curitiba is the capital of the Brazilian state of Paraná. It is the largest city with the biggest economy of both Paraná and southern Brazil. The population of Curitiba numbers approximately 1.75 million people and the latest GDP figures for the city surpass US$61 billion according to...

          , Brazil
          Brazil
          Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

           (Cfbuniform precipitation distribution)
        • Boone
          Boone, North Carolina
          Boone is a town located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina, United States. Boone's population was reported as 17,122, as of 2010...

          , North Carolina
          North Carolina
          North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

          , USA
          United States
          The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

           (Cfbuniform precipitation distribution)
        • Higher elevations of Tamil Nadu
          Tamil Nadu
          Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...

          , India
          India
          India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

           (e.g. Ooty
          Ootacamund
          Ootacamund , is a town, a municipality and the district capital of the Nilgiris district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Ootacamund is a popular hill station located in the Nilgiri Hills...

          )
        • Crkvice
          Orjen
          Orjen is a Dinaric Mediterranean limestone mountain range in Montenegro-Bosnia and Herzegovina. At 1894 m , Zubački kabao is the highest peak in the subadriatic Dinarides. The massif of Orjen lies to the Northwest of Risan in Bay of Kotor...

          , Montenegro
          Montenegro
          Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...

           (Cfsb —perhumid Mediterranean mountain climate without summer dryness, Crkvice on Orjen
          Orjen
          Orjen is a Dinaric Mediterranean limestone mountain range in Montenegro-Bosnia and Herzegovina. At 1894 m , Zubački kabao is the highest peak in the subadriatic Dinarides. The massif of Orjen lies to the Northwest of Risan in Bay of Kotor...

           also holds Europe's precipitation record – averaging 4927 mm/m² 1931–1960).
      • The temperate climate with dry winters (Cwb, Cwc) is a type of climate characteristic of the highlands inside the tropics of Mexico
        Mexico
        The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

        , Peru
        Peru
        Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....

        , Bolivia
        Bolivia
        Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...

        , Madagascar
        Madagascar
        The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...

        , Zambia
        Zambia
        Zambia , officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....

        , Zimbabwe
        Zimbabwe
        Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...

         and South Africa
        South Africa
        The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

         but it is also found in central Argentina, outside the tropics. Winters are noticeable and dry and summers very rainy. In the tropics the rainy season is provoked by the tropical airmasses and the dry winters by subtropical high pressure. Temperate temperatures are the consequence of altitude which become cooler year-round.
        • Examples:
          • Cuzco, Peru
            Peru
            Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....

             (Cwb)
          • Addis Ababa
            Addis Ababa
            Addis Ababa is the capital city of Ethiopia...

            , Ethiopia
            Ethiopia
            Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...

             (Cwb)
          • Bogotá
            Bogotá
            Bogotá, Distrito Capital , from 1991 to 2000 called Santa Fé de Bogotá, is the capital, and largest city, of Colombia. It is also designated by the national constitution as the capital of the department of Cundinamarca, even though the city of Bogotá now comprises an independent Capital district...

            , Colombia
            Colombia
            Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

             (Cwb)
          • Mexico City
            Mexico City
            Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...

            , Mexico
            Mexico
            The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

             (Cwb)
          • Campos do Jordão
            Campos do Jordão
            Campos do Jordão is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil. The population in 2003 was 47,903 and the area is 290.27 km². The elevation is 1,628 m....

            , São Paulo
            São Paulo (state)
            São Paulo is a state in Brazil. It is the major industrial and economic powerhouse of the Brazilian economy. Named after Saint Paul, São Paulo has the largest population, industrial complex, and economic production in the country. It is the richest state in Brazil...

            , Brazil
            Brazil
            Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

             (Cwb)
          • La Paz
            La Paz
            Nuestra Señora de La Paz is the administrative capital of Bolivia, as well as the departmental capital of the La Paz Department, and the second largest city in the country after Santa Cruz de la Sierra...

            , Bolivia
            Bolivia
            Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...

             (Cwb)
          • Johannesburg
            Johannesburg
            Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...

            , Gauteng
            Gauteng
            Gauteng is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. It was formed from part of the old Transvaal Province after South Africa's first all-race elections on 27 April 1994...

            , South Africa
            South Africa
            The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

             (Cwb)
          • Gangtok
            Gangtok
            Gangtok is the capital and largest town of the Indian state of Sikkim. Gangtok is located in the Shivalik Hills of the eastern Himalayan range, at an altitude of . The town, with a population of thirty thousand belonging to different ethnicities such as Nepalis, Lepchas and Bhutia, is administered...

            , Sikkim
            Sikkim
            Sikkim is a landlocked Indian state nestled in the Himalayan mountains...

            , India
            India
            India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

             (Cwb)
          • Juliaca
            Juliaca
            Juliaca is San Roman's capital city in Puno Region, which is situated in southeastern Peru. It is the region's largest city with a population of 225,146 inhabitants , on the Altiplano, Juliaca above sea level, is located in the Collao Plateau and it is northwest of Lake Titicaca...

            , Peru
            Peru
            Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....

             (Cwb)
    • Maritime Subarctic climates or Subpolar Oceanic climates (Cfc): These climates occur poleward of the Maritime Temperate climates, and are confined either to narrow coastal strips on the western poleward margins of the continents, or, especially in the Northern Hemisphere, to islands off such coasts.
      • Examples:
        • Monte Dinero
          Monte Dinero
          Monte Dinero is a town on the southeastern tip of Patagonia, in Santa Cruz Province, Argentina. It is located near the Strait of Magellan, southeast of Rio Gallegos. Most of the land around Monte Dinero is devoted to sheep and cattle ranching.Monte Dinero is at ....

          , Argentina
          Argentina
          Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

           (Cfcuniform precipitation distribution)
        • Reykjavík
          Reykjavík
          Reykjavík is the capital and largest city in Iceland.Its latitude at 64°08' N makes it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói Bay...

          , Iceland
          Iceland
          Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...

           (Cfcuniform precipitation distribution)
        • Tórshavn
          Tórshavn
          Tórshavn is the capital and largest town of the Faroe Islands. It is located in the southern part on the east coast of Streymoy. To the north west of the town lies the high mountain Húsareyn, and to the southwest, the high Kirkjubøreyn...

          , Faroe Islands
          Faroe Islands
          The Faroe Islands are an island group situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately halfway between Scotland and Iceland. The Faroe Islands are a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, along with Denmark proper and Greenland...

           (Cfcuniform precipitation distribution)
        • Bodø
          Bodø
          is a city and a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the Salten region.The city of Bodø was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 . Bodin was merged with Bodø on 1 January 1968. Skjerstad was merged with Bodø on 1 January 2005...

          , Norway
          Norway
          Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

           (Cfcuniform precipitation distribution)

GROUP D: Continental/microthermal climate

These climates have an average temperature above 10 °C (50 °F) in their warmest months, and a coldest month average below −3 °C (or 0 °C in some versions, as noted previously). These usually occur in the interiors of continents, or on their east coasts, north of 40° North latitude. In the Southern Hemisphere, Group D climates are extremely rare due to the smaller land masses in the middle latitudes and the almost complete absence of land between 40°-60° South latitude, existing only in some highland locations.
  • The second and third letters are used as for Group C climates, while a third letter of d indicates 3 or fewer months with mean temperatures above 10 °C and a coldest month temperature below -38 °C.
  • Group D climates are subdivided as follows:
    • Hot Summer Continental climates
      Humid continental climate
      A humid continental climate is a climatic region typified by large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot summers and cold winters....

      (Dfa, Dwa, Dsa): Dfa climates usually occur in the high 30s and low 40s latitudes, with a qualifying average temperature in the warmest month of >22°C. In eastern Asia
      Asia
      Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

       Dwa climates extend further south due to the influence of the Siberian high pressure system, which also causes winters there to be dry, and summers can be very wet because of monsoon
      Monsoon
      Monsoon is traditionally defined as a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation, but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with the asymmetric heating of land and sea...

       circulation.
      • Examples:
        • Chicago
          Chicago
          Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

          , Illinois
          Illinois
          Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

          , United States
          United States
          The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

           (Dfa — summer wetter than winter)
        • Toronto
          Toronto
          Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

          , Ontario
          Ontario
          Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

          , Canada
          Canada
          Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

           (Dfa — summer somewhat wetter than winter)
        • Santaquin
          Santaquin, Utah
          Santaquin is a city in Utah County, Utah, United States. It is part of the Provo–Orem, Utah Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 4,834 at the 2000 census, while the 2008 estimates placed it at 8,400.-Geography:...

          , Utah
          Utah
          Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...

          , United States
          United States
          The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

           (Dfa — summer drier than winter)
        • Cleveland, Ohio
          Ohio
          Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

          , United States
          United States
          The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

           (Dfa — summer somewhat wetter than winter)
        • Beijing
          Beijing
          Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...

          , China
          China
          Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

           (Dwa)
        • Cheorwon, South Korea
          South Korea
          The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...

           (Dwa)
      • Dsa exists only at higher elevations adjacent to areas with hot summer Mediterranean (Csa) climates, such as Cambridge
        Cambridge, Idaho
        Cambridge is a city in Washington County, Idaho, United States. The population was 360 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Cambridge is located at ....

        , Idaho
        Idaho
        Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....

         and Saqqez in Iranian Kurdistan.
    • Warm Summer Continental or Hemiboreal
      Hemiboreal
      Hemiboreal means halfway between the temperate and subarctic zones. The term is most frequently used in the context of ecosystems.-Botany:...

       climates
      (Dfb, Dwb, Dsb): Dfb and Dwb climates are immediately north of Hot Summer Continental climates, generally in the high 40s and low 50s in latitude in North America and Asia, and also in central and eastern Europe and Russia
      Russia
      Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

      , between the Maritime Temperate and Continental Subarctic climates, where it extends up to high 50s and even lowest 60 degrees latitude.
      • Examples:
        • Moncton, New Brunswick
          New Brunswick
          New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...

          , Canada
          Canada
          Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

           (Dfb — uniform precipitation distribution)
        • Minsk
          Minsk
          - Ecological situation :The ecological situation is monitored by Republican Center of Radioactive and Environmental Control .During 2003–2008 the overall weight of contaminants increased from 186,000 to 247,400 tons. The change of gas as industrial fuel to mazut for financial reasons has worsened...

          , Belarus
          Belarus
          Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...

           (Dfb — summer wetter than winter)
        • Saskatoon
          Saskatoon
          Saskatoon is a city in central Saskatchewan, Canada, on the South Saskatchewan River. Residents of the city of Saskatoon are called Saskatonians. The city is surrounded by the Rural Municipality of Corman Park No. 344....

          , Saskatchewan
          Saskatchewan
          Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....

          , Canada
          Canada
          Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

           (Dfb; summer wetter than winter)
        • Revelstoke
          Revelstoke, British Columbia
          Revelstoke is a city in southeastern British Columbia, Canada. It is located east of Vancouver, and west of Calgary, Alberta. The city is situated on the banks of the Columbia River just south of the Revelstoke Dam and near its confluence with the Illecillewaet River...

          , British Columbia
          British Columbia
          British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

          , Canada
          Canada
          Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

           (Dfb — summer drier than winter)
        • Fargo
          Fargo, North Dakota
          Fargo is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Dakota and the county seat of Cass County. In 2010, its population was 105,549, and it had an estimated metropolitan population of 208,777...

          , North Dakota
          North Dakota
          North Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, along the Canadian border. The state is bordered by Canada to the north, Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south and Montana to the west. North Dakota is the 19th-largest state by area in the U.S....

          , United States
          United States
          The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

           (Dfb — winter drier than summer)
        • Helsinki
          Helsinki
          Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...

          , Finland
          Finland
          Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

           (Dfb — winter somewhat drier than summer)
        • Växjö
          Växjö
          Växjö is a city and the seat of Växjö Municipality, Kronoberg County, Sweden with 64 200 inhabitants in 2010. It is the administrative, cultural and industrial centre of Kronoberg County. Furthermore it is the episcopal see of the Diocese of Växjö. It has a population of about 64 200, out of a...

          , Sweden
          Sweden
          Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

           (Dfb — winter somewhat drier than summer)
        • Vladivostok
          Vladivostok
          The city is located in the southern extremity of Muravyov-Amursky Peninsula, which is about 30 km long and approximately 12 km wide.The highest point is Mount Kholodilnik, the height of which is 257 m...

          , Russia
          Russia
          Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

           (Dwb)
        • Kars
          Kars
          Kars is a city in northeast Turkey and the capital of Kars Province. The population of the city is 73,826 as of 2010.-Etymology:As Chorzene, the town appears in Roman historiography as part of ancient Armenia...

          , Turkey
          Turkey
          Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

           (Dfb)
      • Dsb arises from the same scenario as Dsa, but at even higher altitudes or higher latitudes, and chiefly in North America since here the Mediterranean climates extend further poleward than in Eurasia; Mazama, Washington
        Mazama, Washington
        Mazama is a small village nestled in the Methow Valley of the Methow River in the eastern part of Washington. It is 14 miles northwest of Winthrop and about 28 miles from the Canadian border....

         is one such location.
    • Continental Subarctic
      Subarctic climate
      The subarctic climate is a climate characterized by long, usually very cold winters, and short, cool to mild summers. It is found on large landmasses, away from the moderating effects of an ocean, generally at latitudes from 50° to 70°N poleward of the humid continental climates...

       or Boreal
      Boreal ecosystem
      The term boreal is usually applied to ecosystems localized in subarctic and subantarctic zones, although Austral is also used for the latter....

       (taiga
      Taiga
      Taiga , also known as the boreal forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests.Taiga is the world's largest terrestrial biome. In North America it covers most of inland Canada and Alaska as well as parts of the extreme northern continental United States and is known as the Northwoods...

      ) climates
      (Dfc, Dwc, Dsc): Dfc and Dwc climates occur poleward of the other Group D climates, mostly in the 50s and low 60s North latitude, although it might occur as far north as 70° latitude.
      • Examples:
        • Sept-Îles
          Sept-Îles, Quebec
          For the islands in north of Brittany, see JentilezSept-Îles is a city in the Côte-Nord region of eastern Quebec, Canada. It is the northernmost town in Quebec with any significant population...

          , Quebec
          Quebec
          Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

          , Canada
          Canada
          Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

           (Dfc — uniform precipitation distribution)
        • Anchorage
          Anchorage, Alaska
          Anchorage is a unified home rule municipality in the southcentral part of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is the northernmost major city in the United States...

          , Alaska
          Alaska
          Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

          , United States
          United States
          The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

           (Dfc — summer wetter than winter)
        • Mount Robson
          Mount Robson
          Mount Robson is the most prominent mountain in North America's Rocky Mountain range; it is also the highest point in the Canadian Rockies. The mountain is located entirely within Mount Robson Provincial Park of British Columbia, and is part of the Rainbow Range. It is commonly thought to be the...

          , British Columbia
          British Columbia
          British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

          , Canada
          Canada
          Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

           (Dfc — summer drier than winter)
        • Murmansk
          Murmansk
          Murmansk is a city and the administrative center of Murmansk Oblast, Russia. It serves as a seaport and is located in the extreme northwest part of Russia, on the Kola Bay, from the Barents Sea on the northern shore of the Kola Peninsula, not far from Russia's borders with Norway and Finland...

          , Russia
          Russia
          Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

           (Dfc – summer wetter than winter)
        • Irkutsk
          Irkutsk
          Irkutsk is a city and the administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, one of the largest cities in Siberia. Population: .-History:In 1652, Ivan Pokhabov built a zimovye near the site of Irkutsk for gold trading and for the collection of fur taxes from the Buryats. In 1661, Yakov Pokhabov...

          , Russia
          Russia
          Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

           (Dwc)
        • Kirkenes
          Kirkenes
          is a town in the municipality of Sør-Varanger in the county of Finnmark in the far northeast of Norway...

          , Finnmark
          Finnmark
          or Finnmárku is a county in the extreme northeast of Norway. By land it borders Troms county to the west, Finland to the south and Russia to the east, and by water, the Norwegian Sea to the northwest, and the Barents Sea to the north and northeast.The county was formerly known as Finmarkens...

          , Norway
          Norway
          Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

           (Dfc – summer wetter than winter)
        • Luleå
          Luleå
          - Transportation :Local buses are run by .A passenger train service is available from Luleå Centralstation on Sweden's national SJ railway service northbound to Narvik on the Norwegian coast, or southbound to Stockholm. See Rail transport in Sweden....

          , Sweden
          Sweden
          Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

           (Dfc – uniform precipitation distribution)
      • Dsc, like Dsa and Dsb, is confined exclusively to highland locations near areas that have Mediterranean climates, and is the rarest of the three as a still higher altitude is needed to produce this climate. Examples of this type of climate are Zubački kabao
        Zubacki kabao
        thumb|Zubacki kabao with a small snowpatch in JuneZubački kabao is a mountain in Montenegro. At 1,894 m, it is the highest summit of the Orjen range in the Dinaric Alps...

        , Montenegro
        Montenegro
        Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...

         (Dfsc perhumid Mediterranean snow climate), Galena Summit
        Galena Summit
        Galena Summit is a high mountain pass in central Idaho, United States, at an elevation of above sea level. The pass is located in the Boulder Mountains, in the northwest corner of Blaine County, within the Sawtooth National Recreation Area of the Sawtooth National Forest.The summit is on State...

        , Idaho
        Idaho
        Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....

         and the upper portions of the Massif Central
        Massif Central
        The Massif Central is an elevated region in south-central France, consisting of mountains and plateaux....

         in France
        France
        The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

    • Continental Subarctic climates with extremely severe winters (Dfd, Dwd): These climates occur only in eastern Siberia
      Siberia
      Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...

      . The names of some of the places that have this climate — most notably Verkhoyansk
      Verkhoyansk
      Verkhoyansk is a town in Verkhoyansky District of the Sakha Republic, Russia, situated on the Yana River, near the Arctic Circle, from Yakutsk. Population: There is a river port, an airport, a fur-collecting depot, and the center of a reindeer-raising area....

       and Oymyakon
      Oymyakon
      Oymyakon is a village in Oymyakonsky Ulus of the Sakha Republic, Russia, located along the Indigirka River, 30 kilometres northwest of Tomtor on the Kolyma Highway.-Geography:...

       — have become veritable synonyms for extreme, severe winter cold.

GROUP E: Polar climates

These climates are characterized by average temperatures below 10 °C (50 °F) in all twelve months of the year:
  • Tundra
    Tundra
    In physical geography, tundra is a biome where the tree growth is hindered by low temperatures and short growing seasons. The term tundra comes through Russian тундра from the Kildin Sami word tūndâr "uplands," "treeless mountain tract." There are three types of tundra: Arctic tundra, alpine...

     climate
    (ET): Warmest month has an average temperature between 0 °C (32 °F) and 10 °C (50 °F). These climates occur on the northern edges of the North American and Eurasian landmasses, and on nearby islands. It also occurs on some islands near the Antarctic circle.
    • Examples:
      • Iqaluit, Nunavut
        Nunavut
        Nunavut is the largest and newest federal territory of Canada; it was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the Nunavut Act and the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act, though the actual boundaries had been established in 1993...

        , Canada
        Canada
        Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

      • Provideniya
        Provideniya
        Provideniya , is an urban-type settlement situated on Komsomolskaya Bay, part of Provideniya Bay in the northeastern part of Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Russia. It is located across the Bering Strait from Alaska, and is very close to the International Date Line. The town is served by Provideniya...

        , Russia
        Russia
        Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

      • Nuuk
        Nuuk
        Nuuk, is the capital of Greenland, the northernmost capital in North America and the largest city in Greenland. Located in the Nuup Kangerlua fjord, the city lies on the eastern shore of the Labrador Sea and on the west coast of Sermersooq. Nuuk is the largest cultural and economic center in...

        , Greenland
        Greenland
        Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...

      • Vardø
        Vardø
        is a town and a municipality in Finnmark county in the extreme northeast part of Norway.Vardø was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 . The law required that all cities should be separated from their rural districts, but because of a low population and very few voters, this was...

        , Norway
        Norway
        Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

      • Longyearbyen
        Longyearbyen
        Longyearbyen is the largest settlement and the administrative centre of Svalbard, Norway. It is located on the western coast of Spitsbergen, the largest island of the Svalbard archipelago, on the southern side on Adventfjorden , which continues inland with Adventdalen...

        , Svalbard
        Svalbard
        Svalbard is an archipelago in the Arctic, constituting the northernmost part of Norway. It is located north of mainland Europe, midway between mainland Norway and the North Pole. The group of islands range from 74° to 81° north latitude , and from 10° to 35° east longitude. Spitsbergen is the...

      • Barrow
        Barrow, Alaska
        Barrow is the largest city of the North Slope Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is one of the northernmost cities in the world and is the northernmost city in the United States of America, with nearby Point Barrow being the nation's northernmost point. Barrow's population was 4,212 at the...

        , Alaska
        Alaska
        Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

      • Grytviken
        Grytviken
        Grytviken is the principal settlement in the British territory of South Georgia in the South Atlantic. It was so named in 1902 by the Swedish surveyor Johan Gunnar Andersson who found old English try pots used to render seal oil at the site. It is the best harbour on the island, consisting of a...

        , South Georgia
      • ET is also found at high elevations outside the polar regions, above the tree line — as at Mount Washington
        Mount Washington (New Hampshire)
        Mount Washington is the highest peak in the Northeastern United States at , famous for dangerously erratic weather. For 76 years, a weather observatory on the summit held the record for the highest wind gust directly measured at the Earth's surface, , on the afternoon of April 12, 1934...

        , New Hampshire
        New Hampshire
        New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...

         and Jotunheimen, Norway
        Norway
        Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

        .
  • Ice Cap climate (EF): All twelve months have average temperatures below 0 °C (32 °F). This climate is dominant in Antarctica (e.g., Scott Base
    Scott Base
    Scott Base is a research facility located in Antarctica and is operated by New Zealand. It was named after Captain Robert Falcon Scott, Royal Navy, leader of two British expeditions to the Ross Sea area of Antarctica...

    ) and in inner Greenland (e.g., Eismitte
    Eismitte
    Eismitte, in English also called Mid-Ice, was the site of an Arctic expedition in the interior of Greenland that took place from July 1930 through August 1931, and claimed the life of noted German scientist Alfred Wegener....

     or North Ice
    North Ice
    North Ice was the name of a research station of the British North Greenland Expedition on the inland ice of Greenland. The coordinates of the station were , with an altitude of 2,345 metres above sea level...

    ).
  • Occasionally, a third, lower-case letter is added to ET climates if either the summer or winter is clearly drier than the other half of the year; thus Herschel Island
    Herschel Island
    Herschel Island is an island in the Beaufort Sea , which lies off the coast of the Yukon Territories in Canada, of which it is administratively a part...

     ('Qikiqtaruk', in Inuvialuit
    Inuvialuit
    The Inuvialuit or Western Canadian Inuit are Inuit people who live in the western Canadian Arctic region. They, like all other Inuit, are descendants of the Thule who migrated eastward from Alaska...

    ) off the coast of Canada
    Canada
    Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

    's Yukon Territory
    Yukon
    Yukon is the westernmost and smallest of Canada's three federal territories. It was named after the Yukon River. The word Yukon means "Great River" in Gwich’in....

    , becomes ETw, with Pic du Midi de Bigorre
    Pic du Midi de Bigorre
    The Pic du Midi de Bigorre or simply Pic du Midi is a mountain in the French Pyrenees famous for its astronomical observatory, the Observatoire du Pic du Midi de Bigorre , part of the Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées .-Pic du Midi Observatory:Construction of the observatory began in 1878 under the...

     in the French Pyrenees
    Pyrenees
    The Pyrenees is a range of mountains in southwest Europe that forms a natural border between France and Spain...

     acquiring an ETs designation. If the precipitation is more or less evenly spread throughout the year, ETf may be used, such as for Hebron, Labrador
    Hebron, Newfoundland and Labrador
    Hebron is the name of a former Moravian mission that was the northernmost settlement in Labrador. Founded in 1831, the mission disbanded in 1959. Abraham Ulrikab and his family were from Hebron and they were exhibited in zoos in Europe in 1880....

    . When the option to include this letter is exercised, the same standards that are used for Groups C and D apply, with the additional requirement that the wettest month must have an average of at least 30 mm precipitation (Group E climates can be as dry or even drier than Group B climates based on actual precipitation received, but their rate of evaporation is much lower). Seasonal precipitation letters are almost never attached to EF climates, mainly due to the difficulty in distinguishing between falling and blowing snow, as snow is the sole source of moisture in these climates.

GROUP H: Alpine climates

The Alpine climates are considered to be part of group E.
  • Alpine Climate
    • Examples:
      • The Cascade Mountains
      • The Rocky Mountains
        Rocky Mountains
        The Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States...

      • The Andes
        Andes
        The Andes is the world's longest continental mountain range. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about long, about to wide , and of an average height of about .Along its length, the Andes is split into several ranges, which are separated...

      • The Himalayas
        Himalayas
        The Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...

      • The Tibetan Plateau
        Tibetan Plateau
        The Tibetan Plateau , also known as the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau is a vast, elevated plateau in Central Asia covering most of the Tibet Autonomous Region and Qinghai, in addition to smaller portions of western Sichuan, southwestern Gansu, and northern Yunnan in Western China and Ladakh in...

      • The Eastern Highlands
        Eastern Highlands
        The Eastern or 'East African Highlands is a mountain range in the east of Zimbabwe and one of 4 distinct physiographic divisions on the African continent.-Location and description:...

         of Africa
        Africa
        Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

      • The Snowy Mountains
        Snowy Mountains
        The Snowy Mountains, known informally as "The Snowies", are the highest Australian mountain range and contain the Australian mainland's highest mountain, Mount Kosciuszko, which reaches 2,228 metres AHD, approximately 7310 feet....

         of Australia
        Australia
        Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

      • The West Coast Range of Tasmania
        Tasmania
        Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...

      • The Alps
        Alps
        The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....


Trewartha climate classification scheme

The Trewartha
Glenn Thomas Trewartha
Glenn Thomas Trewartha was an American geographer of Cornish American descent.He graduated from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, with a Ph.D...

 climate classification scheme is a modified version of the Köppen system. It attempts to redefine the broad climatic groups in such a way as to be closer to vegetational zoning, especially in the United States. Under the standard Köppen system western Washington and Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

 are classed into the same climate as southern California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, even though the two regions have strikingly different weather and vegetation. It also classes southern New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...

 into the same climate as the Gulf Coast. Trewartha's modifications sought to reclass the Pacific Northwest seaboard as a different climate from California, and New England from the Gulf Coast.
  • Group A
This the tropical climate realm, defined the same as in Köppen's scheme (i.e., all 12 months average 18 °C or above). Climates with no more than two dry months (defined as having less than 60 mm average precipitation, same as per Köppen) are classified Ar (instead of Köppen's Af), while others are classified Aw if the dry season is at the time of low sun/short days or As if the dry season is at the time of high sun/long days. There was no specific monsoon climate identifier in the original scheme, but Am was added later, with the same parameters as Köppen's (except that at least three months, rather than one, must have less than 60 mm average precipitation).
  • Group B
BW and BS mean the same as in the Köppen scheme, with the Köppen BWn climate sometimes being designated BM (the M standing for "marine"). However, a different formula is used to quantify the aridity threshold: 10 X (T − 10) + 3P, with T equalling the mean annual temperature in degrees Celsius and P denoting the percentage of total precipitation received in the six high-sun months (April through September in the Northern Hemisphere and October through March in the Southern). If the precipition for a given location is less than the above formula, its climate is said to be that of a desert (BW); if it is equal to or greater than the above formula but less than twice that amount, the climate is classified as steppe (BS); and if the precipitation is more than double the value of the formula the climate is not in Group B. Unlike in Köppen's scheme, no thermal subsets exist within this group in Trewartha's, unless the Universal Thermal Scale (see below) is used.
  • Group C
In the Trewartha scheme this category encompasses subtropical realm climates only (8 or more months above 10 °C). Cs and Cw have the same meanings as they do in Köppen's scheme, but the subtropical climate with no distinct dry season is designated Cr instead of Köppen's Cf (and for Cs the average annual precipitation must be less than 890 mm (35 in) in addition to the driest summer month having less than 30 mm precipitation and being less than one-third as wet as the wettest winter month).
  • Group D
This group represents cold continental realms (4 to 7 months above 10 °C). Maritime temperate climates (most of Köppen's Cfb and Cwb climates, though some of these would fit into Trewartha's Cr and Cw respectively) are denoted DO in the Trewartha classification (although some places (like Halifax) near the east coasts of both North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

 and Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

 actually qualify as DO climates in Trewartha's scheme when they fit into Cfa/Cwa rather than Cfb/Cwb in Köppen's), while continental climates are represented as DCa (Köppen Dfa, Dwa, Dsa) and DCb (Köppen Dfb, Dwb, Dsb). For the continental climates, sometimes the third letter (a or b) is omitted and DC is simply used instead, and occasionally a precipitational seasonality letter is added to both the maritime and continental climates (r, w, or s, as applicable). The dividing point between the maritime and continental climates is 0 °C in the coldest month, rather than the Köppen value of −3 °C (as noted in the section on the Köppen scheme, however, some climatologists — particularly in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 — now observe 0 °C in the coldest month as the equatorward limit of the continental climates in that scheme as well).
  • Group E
This represents Ice realms, defined the same as in Köppen's scheme (1 to 3 months with average temperatures of 10 °C or above; Köppen Cfc, Dfc, Dwc, Dsc, Dfd, Dwd). In the original scheme, this group was not further divided; later, the designations EO and EC were created, with EO (maritime subarctic) signifying that the coldest month averages above −10 °C, while EC (continental subarctic or "boreal") means that at least one month has an average temperature of −10 °C or below. As in Group D, a third letter can be added to indicate seasonality of precipitation. There is no separate counterpart to the Köppen Dfd/Dwd climate in Trewartha's scheme.
  • Group F
This is the polar climate group, split into FT (Köppen ET) and FI (Köppen EF).
  • Group H
Highland climates, in which altitude plays a role in determining climate classification. Specifically, this would apply if correcting the average temperature of each month to a sea-level value using the formula of adding 5.6 °C for each 1,000 meters of elevation would result in the climate fitting into a different thermal group than that into which the actual monthly temperatures place it. Sometimes G is used instead of H if the above is true and the altitude is 500 meters or higher but lower than 2,500 meters; but the G or H is placed in front of the applicable thermal letter rather than replacing it — and the second letter used reflects the corrected monthly temperatures, not the actual monthly temperatures.
  • Universal Thermal Scale
An option exists to include information on both the warmest and coldest months for every climate by adding a third and fourth letter, respectively. The letters used conform to the following scale:
i — severely hot: Mean monthly temperature 35 °C (95 °F) or higher
h — very hot: 28 to 34.9 °C (82.4 to 94.8 F)
a — hot: 23 to 27.9 °C (73.4 to 82.2 F)
b — warm: 18 to 22.9 °C (64.4 to 73.2 F)
l — mild: 10 to 17.9 °C (50 to 64.2 F)
k — cool: 0.1 to 9.9 °C (32.2 to 49.8 F)
o — cold: -9.9 C
c — very cold: -24.9 C
d — severely cold: -39.9 C
e — excessively cold: -40 °C or below.
Examples of the resulting designations include Afaa for Surabaya
Surabaya
Surabaya is Indonesia's second-largest city with a population of over 2.7 million , and the capital of the province of East Java...

, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

, BWhl for Aswan
Aswan
Aswan , formerly spelled Assuan, is a city in the south of Egypt, the capital of the Aswan Governorate.It stands on the east bank of the Nile at the first cataract and is a busy market and tourist centre...

, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

, Crhk for Dallas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...

, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

, DOlk for London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, EClc for Arkhangelsk
Arkhangelsk
Arkhangelsk , formerly known as Archangel in English, is a city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina River near its exit into the White Sea in the north of European Russia. The city spreads for over along the banks of the river...

, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

, and FTkd for Barrow
Barrow, Alaska
Barrow is the largest city of the North Slope Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is one of the northernmost cities in the world and is the northernmost city in the United States of America, with nearby Point Barrow being the nation's northernmost point. Barrow's population was 4,212 at the...

, Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

.

Criticisms of the Köppen scheme

Some climatologists have argued that Köppen's system could be improved upon. One of the most frequently-raised objections concerns the temperate Group C category, regarded by many as overbroad (it includes both Tampa
Tampa, Florida
Tampa is a city in the U.S. state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County. Tampa is located on the west coast of Florida. The population of Tampa in 2010 was 335,709....

, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

 and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

 for example, even using 0 °C (32 °F) as the baseline). In Applied Climatology (first edition published in 1966), John F. Griffiths proposed a new subtropical zone, encompassing those areas with a coldest month of between 6 °C (42.8 °F) and 18 °C (64.4 °F), effectively subdividing Group C into two nearly equal parts (his scheme assigns the letter B to the new zone, and identifies dry climates with an additional letter immediately following the temperature-based letter).

Another point of contention involves the dry B climates; the argument here is that their separation by Köppen into only two thermal subsets is inadequate. Those who hold this view (including Griffiths) have suggested that the dry climates be placed on the same temperature continuum as other climates, with the thermal letter being followed by an additional capital letter — S for steppe
Steppe
In physical geography, steppe is an ecoregion, in the montane grasslands and shrublands and temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biomes, characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes...

 or W (or D) for desert
Desert
A desert is a landscape or region that receives an extremely low amount of precipitation, less than enough to support growth of most plants. Most deserts have an average annual precipitation of less than...

 — as applicable (Griffiths also advances an alternate formula for use as an aridity threshold: R = 160 + 9T, with R equalling the threshold, in millimeters of mean annual precipitation, and T denoting the mean annual temperature in degrees Celsius).

A third idea is to create a maritime polar or EM zone within Group E to separate relatively mild marine locations (such as Ushuaia
Ushuaia
Ushuaia may refer to the following:*Ushuaia, a city in Argentina.**Ushuaia Department, an administrative division**Ushuaia River**Ushuaia International Airport**Colegio Nacional de Ushuaia, National School of Ushuaia....

, Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

 and the outer Aleutian Islands) from the colder, continental tundra climates. Specific proposals vary; some advocate setting a coldest-month parameter, such as -7 °C, while others support assigning the new designation to areas with an average annual temperature of above 0 °C.

The accuracy of the 10 °C warmest-month line as the start of the polar climates has also been questioned; Otto Nordenskiöld
Otto Nordenskiöld
Nils Otto Gustaf Nordenskjöld was a Finnish and Swedish geologist, geographer, and polar explorer.-Biography:...

, for example, devised an alternate formula: W = 9 − 0.1 C, with W representing the average temperature of the warmest month and C that of the coldest month, both in degrees Celsius (for instance, if the coldest month averaged −20 °C, a warmest-month average of 11 °C or higher would be necessary to prevent the climate from being polar). This boundary does appear to more closely follow the tree line, or the latitude poleward of which trees cannot grow, than the 10 °C warmest-month isotherm; the former tends to run poleward of the latter near the western margins of the continents, but at a lower latitude in the landmass interiors, the two lines crossing at or near the east coasts of both Asia and North America.

World Map of the Köppen–Geiger climate classification for the period 1951–2000

Based on recent data sets from the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) of the University of East Anglia and the Global Precipitation Climatology Centre (GPCC) at the German Weather Service, a new digital Köppen–Geiger world map on climate classification for the second half of the 20th century has been compiled.

See also

  • Holdridge life zones
    Holdridge life zones
    The Holdridge life zones system is a global bioclimatic scheme for the classification of land areas. It was first published by Leslie Holdridge in 1947, and updated in 1967. It is a relatively simple system based on few empirical data, giving objective mapping criteria...

    climate classification by three dimensions: precipitation, humdity, and potential evapotranspiration ratio

External links


Climate records

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK