Tropical Climates

Tropical SavannaTropical Rainforest

Tropical Savanna

Hot all year round, a few months are very dry

Tropical Rain Forest

Description – Hot and rainy all year round, lush vegetation

Mild Climates

Humid SubtropicalMediterranean

Marine West Coast Climate

Humid Subtropical

Description - Mid-latitude regions; hot humid summers with heavy rain; short and mild winter

Mediterranean

Description - Mild rainy winters and hot dry summers

Marine West Coast

Description – Winds from the ocean make it mild; rainy winters and cool summers

Continental Climates

Humid ContinentalSubarctic

Humid Continental

4 seasons; winters can be long, cold and snowy but there are short hot summers

Subarctic Climate

Close to the polar regions; cold bitter winters but temperatures go above freezing in summer

Polar Climates

TundraIce Cap

Tundra

Arctic region; “vast treeless plain” cold, harsh and dry; permafrost

Ice Cap

Bitterly cold with giant ice sheets; monthly averages do not go above freezing

Dry Climates

SteppeDesert

Steppe

surrounds many deserts with partly dry grasslands and prairies; 10-20 inches of annual rainfall

Desert

Dry all year; gets less than 10 inches of annual rainfall

Highland Climates

Highland/Mountain

Highland or Mountain

Local climates vary greatly because of differences in elevation; cool to cold climates year round; tall mountains will have a timberline.