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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 appropriate temperature above this isotherm is classified as "hot arid subtype" (BWh), and a location with the appropriate temperature below the isotherm is ...
Polar deserts are the regions of Earth that fall under an ice cap climate (EF under the Köppen classification). Despite rainfall totals low enough to normally classify as a desert , polar deserts are distinguished from true deserts ( BWh or BWk under the Köppen classification) by low annual temperatures and evapotranspiration .
Coastal deserts are cooler than hot and semiarid deserts, with average summer temperatures ranging between 13 and 24 °C. They also feature higher total rainfall values. Cold deserts are similar in temperature to coastal deserts, however, they receive more annual precipitation in the form of snowfall. [1]
If the area's annual precipitation in millimeters is less than the threshold but more than half or 50% the threshold, it is classified as a BS (steppe, semi-desert, or semi-arid climate). [2] Furthermore, to delineate hot semi-arid climates from cold semi-arid climates, a mean annual temperature of 18 °C (64.4 °F) is used as an isotherm.
A modern example of desert farming is the Imperial Valley in California, which has high temperatures and average rainfall of just 3 in (76 mm) per year. [121] The economy is heavily based on agriculture and the land is irrigated through a network of canals and pipelines sourced entirely from the Colorado River via the All-American Canal .
Polar and alpine climates has every month of the year with an average temperature below 10 °C (50 °F). [9] [11] ET = Tundra climate; average temperature of warmest month between 0 °C (32 °F) and 10 °C (50 °F). [9] [11] EF = Ice cap climate; eternal winter, with all 12 months of the year with average temperatures below 0 °C (32 °F). [9] [11]
Alaska holds the all-time U.S. record. The mercury plummeted to 80 degrees below zero on Jan. 23, 1971, in Prospect Creek, north of Fairbanks.
A tundra climate is characterized by having at least one month whose average temperature is above 0 °C (32 °F), while an ice cap climate has no months averaging above 0 °C (32 °F). [2] In a tundra climate, even coniferous trees cannot grow, but other specialized plants such as the arctic poppy can grow.