A Semi-arid climate or steppe climate generally describes climatic regions that receive low annual rainfall (250-500 mm or 10-20 in). A more precise definition is given by the Köppen climate classification that treats steppe climates (BSk and BSh) as intermediates between the desert climates (BW) and humid climates in ecological characteristics and agricultural potential. The Köppen climate classification allows adjustments for temperature and for excluding forested regions (such as those in most of Canada and Siberia). Semi-arid climates tend to provide scrubby vegetations in regions where they exist. There are two variations of the semi-arid climate, a hot semi-arid climate (BSh) and a cold semi-arid climate (BSk).

Contents 1 Hot Semi-arid climates 1.1 Notable Cities with Hot Semi-arid climates 2 Cold Semi-arid climates 2.1 Notable Cities with Cold Semi-arid climates 3 Examples of regions with Semi-arid biomes 4 Charts of Selected Cities 4.1 Hot Semi-arid climates 4.2 Cold Semi-arid climates 5 See also 6 References

[edit] Hot Semi-arid climates

Hot semi-arid climates tend to be located in the tropics and subtropics. This variation of semi-arid climates tends to have hot, sometimes extremely hot summers and mild to warm winters. Snow rarely (if ever) falls in these regions. This variation can be found in Australia, South Asia, parts of southern Africa and the Lesser Antilles.

[edit] Notable Cities with Hot Semi-arid climates

• Luanda, Angola
• Gaborone, Botswana
• Willemstad, Curacao
• Petrolina-Juazeiro, Brazil
• Jodhpur, India
• Zaragoza, Spain
• Honolulu, USA
• Midland, USA
• Monterrey, Mexico

[edit] Cold Semi-arid climates

Cold semi-arid climates tend to be located in temperate zones. Like hot semi-arid climates, they tend to have hot, sometimes extremely hot summers. Unlike hot semi-arid climates, areas with this variation of semi-arid climates tend to have cold, sometimes very cold winters. These areas usually see some snowfall during the winter. Also, areas featuring cold semi-arid climates tend to have higher elevations than areas with hot semi-arid climates. Finally areas featuring cold semi-arid climates are sometimes subject to major temperature swings during a 24 hour period, sometimes by as much as 50°F in that timeframe. These temperature swings are seldom seen in hot semi-arid climates.

[edit] Notable Cities with Cold Semi-arid climates

• Denver, USA
• Salt Lake City, USA
• Boise, USA
• Edmonton, Canada
• Calgary, Canada
• Regina, Canada
• Astana, Kazakstan
• Tashkent, Uzbekistan
• Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
• Kabul, Afghanistan
• Xining, China
• Hohhot, China
• Punta Arenas, Chile

[edit] Examples of regions with Semi-arid biomes

Oceania

• Australia: a large portion of the Outback, surrounding the central desert regions, including the following areas:^[1]
  • MacDonnell Ranges, not including Alice Springs.
  • Southern Kimberley, including Broome
  • Central part of the WA Goldfields, including Kalgoorlie
  • Western Pilbara, including Karratha
  • Eastern Riverland, northern Victorian Mallee and Sunraysia, including Mildura
  • Central North West Queensland, including Mount Isa
  • Coastal part of the Far North region of South Australia, including Port Augusta
  • See Goyder's Line which delineates the northern limit of land suitable for agriculture in South Australia

South America

• Brazil: the North-eastern Sertão or Caatinga
• Venezuela: the upper north-west zone Zulia and Falcón.

North America

• Caribbean: the Leeward Antilles.
• Canada:
  • Palliser's Triangle, a region in the southern Prairie Provinces including central and southern Alberta, southern Saskatchewan and extreme southwestern Manitoba;
  • Parts of the British Columbia interior including the Cariboo plateau and the Okanagan Valley
• United States: the western interior, including the following states (except above the tree line in the mountain states and in some localized areas):
  • Western parts of the Dakotas
  • Western Nebraska
  • Western Kansas
  • Far Western Oklahoma
  • Central and West Texas
  • Most of New Mexico
  • Colorado
  • Montana
  • Wyoming
  • Most of Utah
  • Northeastern Arizona
  • Northern Nevada
  • Southern Idaho
  • California's Central Valley
  • Eastern Oregon
  • Eastern Washington
• Mexico:
  • Eastern parts of Sonora
  • Southern parts of Chihuahua
  • Most of Coahuila
  • Most of Nuevo León
  • Northern San Luis Potosí

Asia

• Israel: shrub steppe (Batha) of the Shfela
• Kazakhstan: the Steppe
• Most of Pakistan
• Vietnam: Coastal Ninh Thuan and Binh Thuan province.

Africa

• North Africa: The region between the Tell Atlas and the Saharan Atlas; and the Sahel on the southern edge of the Sahara
• Southern Africa: the Karoo and Kalahari regions in the western interior of South Africa and Botswana, also borders the Namib Desert to the north and west.

Europe

• Spain: most of Canary Islands and the south-east peninsular zone: province of Alicante, province of Almeria and Region of Murcia. This climate is called arid mediterranean.

[edit] Charts of Selected Cities

[edit] Hot Semi-arid climates

Gaborone
Climate chart
J F M A M J J A S O N D     96   32 20     87   32 19     71   30 17     40   28 13     12   24 9     5   23 4     2   23 5     5   26 8     15   31 15     43   33 17     66   33 18     88   32 18 average max. and min. temperatures in °C precipitation totals in mm source: wordtravels[2] 2009-08-04
Imperial conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     3.8   90 68     3.4   90 66     2.8   86 63     1.6   82 55     0.5   75 48     0.2   73 39     0.1   73 41     0.2   79 46     0.6   88 59     1.7   91 63     2.6   91 64     3.5   90 64 average max. and min. temperatures in °F precipitation totals in inches

Monterrey
Climate chart
J F M A M J J A S O N D     15   20 10     16   22 12     18   27 15     29   30 18     43   32 22     64   34 23     54   35 24     62   35 24     133   32 22     72   28 18     26   24 14     16   20 11 average max. and min. temperatures in °C precipitation totals in mm source: MSN Weather UK (2009-01-07),INEGI, 2006 report
Imperial conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     0.6   68 50     0.6   72 54     0.7   81 59     1.1   86 64     1.7   90 72     2.5   93 73     2.1   95 75     2.4   95 75     5.2   90 72     2.8   82 64     1   75 57     0.6   68 52 average max. and min. temperatures in °F precipitation totals in inches

Curaçao
Climate chart
J F M A M J J A S O N D     45   30 24     26   30 24     14   31 25     20   31 26     20   32 26     19   32 26     40   32 26     42   32 26     49   33 27     84   32 26     97   31 26     100   30 25 average max. and min. temperatures in °C precipitation totals in mm source: [1]
Imperial conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     1.8   85 76     1   86 76     0.6   87 77     0.8   88 78     0.8   89 79     0.8   90 80     1.6   89 79     1.6   90 79     1.9   91 80     3.3   89 79     3.8   88 78     3.9   86 77 average max. and min. temperatures in °F precipitation totals in inches

[edit] Cold Semi-arid climates

Edmonton
Climate chart
J F M A M J J A S O N D     23   -7 -16     15   -4 -13     17   2 -7     26   11 -0     49   18 6     87   21 10     92   23 12     69   22 11     44   17 6     18   11 0     18   0 -8     21   -5 -14 average max. and min. temperatures in °C precipitation totals in mm source: [2]
Imperial conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     0.9   19 3     0.6   26 8     0.7   36 19     1   52 31     1.9   64 42     3.4   70 50     3.6   73 54     2.7   72 52     1.7   62 42     0.7   52 33     0.7   32 17     0.8   22 7 average max. and min. temperatures in °F precipitation totals in inches

Denver
Climate chart
J F M A M J J A S O N D     13   6 -9     12   8 -7     33   12 -4     49   16 1     59   21 7     40   28 12     55   31 15     46   30 14     29   25 8     25   19 2     25   11 -5     16   7 -9 average max. and min. temperatures in °C precipitation totals in mm source: [3]
Imperial conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     0.5   43 16     0.5   46 19     1.3   54 25     1.9   61 34     2.3   70 45     1.6   82 54     2.2   88 59     1.8   86 57     1.1   77 46     1   66 36     1   52 23     0.6   45 16 average max. and min. temperatures in °F precipitation totals in inches

Punta Arenas
Climate chart
J F M A M J J A S O N D     38   14 7     23   14 7     33   12 5     36   10 4     33   7 2     41   5 1     28   4 -1     31   6 1     23   8 2     28   11 3     18   12 4     36   14 6 average max. and min. temperatures in °C precipitation totals in mm source: [4]
Imperial conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     1.5   57 45     0.9   57 45     1.3   54 41     1.4   50 39     1.3   45 36     1.6   41 34     1.1   39 30     1.2   43 34     0.9   46 36     1.1   52 37     0.7   54 39     1.4   57 43 average max. and min. temperatures in °F precipitation totals in inches

Tashkent
Climate chart
J F M A M J J A S O N D     55   6 -3     47   8 -2     72   14 4     64   22 10     32   27 14     7   33 18     4   36 19     2   34 17     5   29 12     34   21 7     45   14 3     53   9 -0 average max. and min. temperatures in °C precipitation totals in mm source: World Climate Charts
Imperial conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     2.2   42 26     1.9   46 29     2.8   58 40     2.5   71 50     1.3   81 57     0.3   92 64     0.2   96 67     0.1   93 63     0.2   84 54     1.3   70 45     1.8   57 38     2.1   47 31 average max. and min. temperatures in °F precipitation totals in inches

Bishkek
Climate chart
J F M A M J J A S O N D     26   3 -9     31   3 -7     47   10 -0     76   18 6     64   23 11     35   28 15     19   31 18     12   30 16     17   25 11     43   17 5     44   10 -1     28   5 -5 average max. and min. temperatures in °C precipitation totals in mm source: World Meteorological Organization
Imperial conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     1   37 17     1.2   38 19     1.9   50 31     3   65 43     2.5   74 52     1.4   83 59     0.7   89 64     0.5   86 60     0.7   77 51     1.7   63 40     1.7   50 30     1.1   41 22 average max. and min. temperatures in °F precipitation totals in inches

Kabul
Climate chart
J F M A M J J A S O N D     34   4 -7     60   6 -6     68   12 1     72   19 6     23   24 9     1   30 12     6.2   32 15     1.6   32 14     1.7   28 9     3.7   22 4     19   15 -1     22   8 -5 average max. and min. temperatures in °C precipitation totals in mm source: [5]
Imperial conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     1.4   39 19     2.4   43 21     2.7   54 34     2.8   66 43     0.9   75 48     0   86 54     0.2   90 59     0.1   90 57     0.1   82 48     0.1   72 39     0.7   59 30     0.9   46 23 average max. and min. temperatures in °F precipitation totals in inches

[edit] See also

• Continental climate
• See Goyder's Line and Palliser's Triangle where land with unreliable rainfall was used for intensive agriculture against advice.

[edit] References

v • d • e Climate types under the Köppen climate classification Class A Equatorial (Af) · Tropical monsoon (Am) · Tropical savanna (Aw, As) Class B Desert (Bwh, Bwk, Bwn) · Semi-arid (Bsh, Bsk) Class C Humid subtropical (Cfa, Cwa) · Oceanic (Cfb, Cwb, Cfc) · Mediterranean (Csa, Csb) Class D Humid continental (Dfa, Dwa, Dfb, Dwb) · Subarctic (Dfc, Dwc, Dfd, Dwd) · Continental Mediterranean (Dsa, Dsb, Dsc) Class E Polar (ET, EF) · Alpine (ET/H)

This article about geography terminology is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v • d • e