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BWk

Cold desert climate

FIee

Polar ice cap climate with freezing summer with freezing winter

Traditional Koppen classification: BWk (Cold desert climate)

Official definition:

B – 70 % or more of the total annual rainfall is during the summer half of the year and r (r = average total annual precipitation in mm) is less than 20t + 280 (t = average annual temperature in °C), or 70 % or more of total annual precipitation is during the winter half of the year and r is less than 20t, or no half of the year has less than 70 % of total annual rainfall and r less than 20t + 140. Summer half of the year in the Northern hemisphere is from April to September, on the Southern hemisphere from October to March.
W - r is less than the upper limit for B type classification parameter
k - t is lower than 18 °C

The desert climate is characterized by extremely small rainfall. In general it includes areas, which have such little precipitation, that there is hardly any vegetation at all.

The total annual precipitation is at most 250 mm, but quite often much less and regions with no rainfall during the entire year are not an exception. In specific cases this climate type is also assigned to places with more than 250 mm of rainfall annually, but where more water is lost by evapotranspiration than falls with rain (for example some parts in Arizona).

Although the climate type has the word “cold” in it, this term is rather relative. Summers can still be very and sometimes extremely hot (temperatures, however, do not reach such high values as in the case of hot desert climate type BWh). What is different from the BWh type is the occurrence of also colder periods, sometimes extremely cold with temperatures well below freezing point.

Basically all regions with this climate type are found in Asia . Usually in the lee of high mountain ranges, often at high altitudes. The most well-known region with this climate type is probably the Asian Gobi desert in Mongolia. Summers are very hot, while winters extremely cold, the annual temperature range is very high and the same is true for the day/night temperature differences as well. Apart from central Asia (Mongolia, China, India), the BWk climate is also assigned to some parts in Western USA and South America.

Modern Trewartha classification: FIee (Polar ice cap climate with freezing summer with freezing winter)

Polar climate includes the coldest places on Earth. The general criterion for this classification is average monthly temperature of all months less than 10 °C. In Trewartha classification this type is further subdivided into two subtypes – polar tundra climate and ice cap climate.

Polar regions are characterized by absence of the summer as we know it. Each month has an average temperature of less than 10 °C, in case of the ice-cap subtype, it is even less than 0 °C.

Ice-cap polar climate is characterized by very low temperatures all year round and many places lie behind the arctic circle, meaning there is the polar day and polar night. Average temperature in the entire year is below freezing point and the areas are permanently covered with snow and ice. Only very few animal species live here, which rely on gathering food from the see (for example polar bears or penguins). No plants can grow here.

Ice cap polar climate includes areas in most of Antarctica and inland Greenland. The absolute minimum temperature recorded on Earth was recorded in the polar station in Vostok, Antarctica (-89.2 °C). Satellite images however suggest that in some parts of this coldest continent, the temperatures are during specific weather conditions even lower.

freezing summer: warmest month with average temperature below -40 °C
freezing winter: coldest month with average temperature below -40 °C

Summary

32 °F
32 / 32

0.0 in
0 days

Temperature

	Month												Average
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Average
Min Temperature(°F)	32.0	32.0	32.0	32.0	32.0	32.0	32.0	32.0	32.0	32.0	32.0	32.0	32.0
Avg Temperature(°F)	32.0	32.0	32.0	32.0	32.0	32.0	32.0	32.0	32.0	32.0	32.0	32.0	32.0
Max Temperature (°F)	32.0	32.0	32.0	32.0	32.0	32.0	32.0	32.0	32.0	32.0	32.0	32.0	32.0
Range	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0

	Max month	Min month	Annual range
Min Temperature	0, Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec	0, Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec	0.0°F
Avg Temperature	0, Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec	0, Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec	0.0°F
Max Temperature	0, Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec	0, Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec	0.0°F
Temperature range	0, Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec	0, Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec	0.0°F

													Average
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Average
Min Temperature(°F)
Avg Temperature(°F)
Max Temperature(°F)


	Max	Min	Average	Range	Max	Min	Average	Range	Max	Min	Average	Range	Max	Min	Average	Range
Min Temperature	0.0	0.0	nan	0.0	0.0	0.0	nan	0.0	0.0	0.0	nan	0.0	0.0	0.0	nan	0.0
Avg Temperature	0.0	0.0	nan	0.0	0.0	0.0	nan	0.0	0.0	0.0	nan	0.0	0.0	0.0	nan	0.0
Max Temperature	0.0	0.0	nan	0.0	0.0	0.0	nan	0.0	0.0	0.0	nan	0.0	0.0	0.0	nan	0.0

Temperature

	Month												Average
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Average
Avg Temperature (°F)	32.0	32.0	32.0	32.0	32.0	32.0	32.0	32.0	32.0	32.0	32.0	32.0	32.0

	Max month	Min month	Annual range
Avg Temperature	0, Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec	0, Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec	0.0°F

	Month												Average
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Average
Avg Temperature (°F)


	Max	Min	Average	Range	Max	Min	Average	Range	Max	Min	Average	Range	Max	Min	Average	Range
Avg Temperature	0.0	0.0	nan	0.0	0.0	0.0	nan	0.0	0.0	0.0	nan	0.0	0.0	0.0	nan	0.0

Humidity

	Month												Average
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Average
Avg Humidity (%)	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	32.0

	Max month	Min month	Annual range
Avg Humidity	0, Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec	0, Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec	0.0%

	Month												Average
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Average
Avg Humidity (%)


	Max	Min	Average	Range	Max	Min	Average	Range	Max	Min	Average	Range	Max	Min	Average	Range
Avg Humidity	0.0	0.0	nan	0.0	0.0	0.0	nan	0.0	0.0	0.0	nan	0.0	0.0	0.0	nan	0.0

Precipitation

	Month												Monthly average	Annual total
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Monthly average	Annual total
Average monthly precipitation (in)	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Wetdays	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Wetdays ratio (%)	0.0 ,31	0.0 ,28	0.0 ,31	0.0 ,30	0.0 ,31	0.0 ,30	0.0 ,31	0.0 ,31	0.0 ,30	0.0 ,31	0.0 ,30	0.0 ,31	0.0 0,100

	Max month	Min month	Max Season	Min Season	Annual range
Average monthly precipitation	0, Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec	0, Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec	Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter	Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter	0.0in
Wetdays	0, Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec	0, Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec	Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter	Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter	0

	Month
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
Average monthly precipitation (in)
Wetdays / month


	Max	Min	Range	Total	Max	Min	Range	Total	Max	Min	Range	Total	Max	Min	Range	Total
Average monthly precipitation (in)	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Wetdays	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Precipitation

	Month												Monthly average	Annual total
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Monthly average	Annual total
Average monthly precipitation (in)	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0

	Max month	Min month	Max Season	Min Season	Annual range
Average monthly precipitation	0, Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec	0, Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec	Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter	Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter	0.0in

	Month
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
Average monthly precipitation (in)


	Max	Min	Range	Total	Max	Min	Range	Total	Max	Min	Range	Total	Max	Min	Range	Total
Average monthly precipitation (in)	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0

Sunlight / Day length

			Max day length	Min day length	Sunlight/Day length
Jan	min 0 h 0 min	727 min 12 h 7 min 727,713	727 min 12 h 7 min (1.1.) 727,713	726 min 12 h 6 min (30.1.) 726,714	0.0 % ,727
Feb	min 0 h 0 min	726 min 12 h 6 min 726,714	726 min 12 h 6 min (1.2.) 726,714	726 min 12 h 6 min (27.2.) 726,714	0.0 % ,726
Mar	min 0 h 0 min	726 min 12 h 6 min 726,714	726 min 12 h 6 min (1.3.) 726,714	726 min 12 h 6 min (18.3.) 726,714	0.0 % ,726
Apr	min 0 h 0 min	726 min 12 h 6 min 726,714	726 min 12 h 6 min (29.4.) 726,714	726 min 12 h 6 min (1.4.) 726,714	0.0 % ,726
May	min 0 h 0 min	726 min 12 h 6 min 726,714	727 min 12 h 7 min (30.5.) 727,713	726 min 12 h 6 min (1.5.) 726,714	0.0 % ,726
Jun	min 0 h 0 min	727 min 12 h 7 min 727,713	727 min 12 h 7 min (13.6.) 727,713	727 min 12 h 7 min (1.6.) 727,713	0.0 % ,727
Jul	min 0 h 0 min	727 min 12 h 7 min 727,713	727 min 12 h 7 min (2.7.) 727,713	726 min 12 h 6 min (30.7.) 726,714	0.0 % ,727
Aug	min 0 h 0 min	726 min 12 h 6 min 726,714	726 min 12 h 6 min (1.8.) 726,714	726 min 12 h 6 min (31.8.) 726,714	0.0 % ,726
Sep	min 0 h 0 min	726 min 12 h 6 min 726,714	726 min 12 h 6 min (1.9.) 726,714	726 min 12 h 6 min (17.9.) 726,714	0.0 % ,726
Oct	min 0 h 0 min	726 min 12 h 6 min 726,714	726 min 12 h 6 min (31.10.) 726,714	726 min 12 h 6 min (1.10.) 726,714	0.0 % ,726
Nov	min 0 h 0 min	727 min 12 h 7 min 727,713	727 min 12 h 7 min (28.11.) 727,713	726 min 12 h 6 min (1.11.) 726,714	0.0 % ,727
Dec	min 0 h 0 min	727 min 12 h 7 min 727,713	727 min 12 h 7 min (19.12.) 727,713	727 min 12 h 7 min (1.12.) 727,713	0.0 % ,727
Year	0 min 0 h 0 min	726 min 12 h 6 min 726,714	727 min 12 h 7 min (18. 12.) 727,713	726 min 12 h 6 min (16. 9.) 726,714	0.0 % 0,726


	Max	Min	Average	Sunlight/day	Max	Min	Average	Sunlight/day	Max	Min	Average	Sunlight/day	Max	Min	Average	Sunlight/day
(min/day)	0	0	0	nan% 0,nan	0	0	0	nan% 0,nan	0	0	0	nan% 0,nan	0	0	0	nan% 0,nan
Day length	0	0	nan	nan% 0,nan	0	0	nan	nan% 0,nan	0	0	nan	nan% 0,nan	0	0	nan	nan% 0,nan

Day length

		Max day length	Min day length
Jan	727 min 12 h 7 min 727,713	727 min 12 h 7 min (Array.1.) 727,713	726 min 12 h 6 min (30.1.) 726,714
Feb	726 min 12 h 6 min 726,714	726 min 12 h 6 min (Array.2.) 726,714	726 min 12 h 6 min (27.2.) 726,714
Mar	726 min 12 h 6 min 726,714	726 min 12 h 6 min (Array.3.) 726,714	726 min 12 h 6 min (18.3.) 726,714
Apr	726 min 12 h 6 min 726,714	726 min 12 h 6 min (Array.4.) 726,714	726 min 12 h 6 min (1.4.) 726,714
May	726 min 12 h 6 min 726,714	727 min 12 h 7 min (Array.5.) 727,713	726 min 12 h 6 min (1.5.) 726,714
Jun	727 min 12 h 7 min 727,713	727 min 12 h 7 min (Array.6.) 727,713	727 min 12 h 7 min (1.6.) 727,713
Jul	727 min 12 h 7 min 727,713	727 min 12 h 7 min (Array.7.) 727,713	726 min 12 h 6 min (30.7.) 726,714
Aug	726 min 12 h 6 min 726,714	726 min 12 h 6 min (Array.8.) 726,714	726 min 12 h 6 min (31.8.) 726,714
Sep	726 min 12 h 6 min 726,714	726 min 12 h 6 min (Array.9.) 726,714	726 min 12 h 6 min (17.9.) 726,714
Oct	726 min 12 h 6 min 726,714	726 min 12 h 6 min (Array.10.) 726,714	726 min 12 h 6 min (1.10.) 726,714
Nov	727 min 12 h 7 min 727,713	727 min 12 h 7 min (Array.11.) 727,713	726 min 12 h 6 min (1.11.) 726,714
Dec	727 min 12 h 7 min 727,713	727 min 12 h 7 min (Array.12.) 727,713	727 min 12 h 7 min (1.12.) 727,713
Year	726 min 12 h 6 min 726,714	727 min 12 h 7 min (20. 12.) 727,713	726 min 12 h 6 min (18. 9.) 726,714


	Max	Min	Average	Max	Min	Average	Max	Min	Average	Max	Min	Average
Day length	0	0	nan	0	0	nan	0	0	nan	0	0	nan

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