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A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi-arid climates, depending on variables such as temperature, and they give rise to different biomes.
If the annual precipitation is less than 50% of this threshold, the classification is BW (arid: desert climate); if it is in the range of 50%–100% of the threshold, the classification is BS (semi-arid: steppe climate). [9] [11] A third letter can be included to indicate temperature.
The term steppe climate denotes a semi-arid climate, which is encountered in regions too dry to support a forest, but not dry enough to be a desert. [2] [3] Steppes are usually characterized by a semi-arid or continental [citation needed] climate. Extremes can be recorded in the summer of up to 45 °C (115 °F) and in winter of down to −55 ...
However Wladimir Köppen has distinguished the hot or subtropical and tropical (semi-)arid climates (BWh or BSh) having an average annual temperature greater than or equal to 18 °C (64.4 °F) from the cold or temperate (semi-)arid climates (BWk or BSk) whose annual temperature average is lower. [3]
West of 100°W, much of the U.S. has a cold semi-arid climate in the interior upper western states (Idaho to the Dakotas), to warm to hot desert and semi-arid climates in the southwestern U.S. East of 100°W, the climate is humid continental in northern areas (locations roughly above 40°N, Northern Plains, Midwest, Great Lakes, New England ...
Places with more than three months of average daily temperatures above 10 °C (50 °F) and a coldest month temperature below −3 °C (27 °F) and which do not meet the criteria for an arid or semi-arid climate, are classified as continental. Most climates in this zone are found from 35 latitude to 55 latitude, mostly in the northern hemisphere.
According to literature, arid and semi-arid lands are defined based on the characteristics of the climate. For instance, Mongi et al. (2010) consider semi-arid lands as places where the annual rainfall ranges between 500 and 800mm. [ 14 ]
Semi-arid Niger. A semi-arid desert or a steppe is a version of the arid desert with much more rainfall, vegetation and higher humidity. These regions feature a semi-arid climate and are less extreme than regular deserts. [34] Like arid deserts, temperatures can vary greatly in semi deserts.