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There are two variations of a desert climate according to the Köppen climate classification: a hot desert climate (BWh), and a cold desert climate (BWk). To delineate "hot desert climates" from "cold desert climates", a mean annual temperature of 18 °C (64.4 °F) is used as an isotherm so that a location with a BW type climate with the ...
The range of temperatures on a daily and annual scale is relatively low, being 11 °C (20 °F) and 5 °C (9 °F) respectively in the Atacama Desert. Deserts of this type are often long and narrow and bounded to the east by mountain ranges.
This phenomenon causes an extremely large daily temperature range. Specifically, temperatures in a low elevation inland desert can reach 40°C to 50°C during the day, and drop to approximately 5°C at night; the daily range is around 30 to 40°C. [3] There are some other reasons for significant changes in temperature in tropical deserts.
The Mojave Desert is the hottest desert in North America, located primarily in southeastern California and Southern Nevada. Its total area is 22,000 sq mi (57,000 km 2). The largest cold desert is the Great Basin Desert, which encompasses much of the northern Basin and Range Province, north of the Mojave Desert.
The average annual temperature in the desert varies from about 13 to 22 °C (55 to 72 °F), depending on elevation and latitude. The mean annual precipitation for the Chihuahuan Desert is 235 mm (9.3 in) with a range of approximately 150–400 mm (6–16 in), although it receives more precipitation than most other warm desert ecoregions. [3]
The Sonoran desert has an arid subtropical climate and is considered to be the most tropical desert in North America. [8] In the lower-elevation portions of the desert, temperatures are warm year-round, and rainfall is infrequent and irregular, often less than 90 mm (approx. 3.5") annually.
The North African town of Ouargla, Algeria, which is located in the Sahara Desert, just experienced temperatures of 124 F, or 51 C, which may be the highest ever recorded on the continent.
Many deserts, such as the Sahara, are hot year-round, but others, such as East Asia's Gobi Desert, become quite cold during the winter. [1] Temperature extremes are a characteristic of most deserts. High daytime temperatures give way to cold nights because there is no insulation provided by humidity and cloud cover. The diversity of climatic ...