Is Rome (Italy) considered sub-tropical? (season, world, freezing, most)

[Stoney63]

Originally Posted by wavehunter007

Yes, – a climate should not have to be moist to be in the subtropical classification.

As far as the Aw climates though - most Aw zones are modestly wet in terms of annual rainfall from what I have seen. World wide – most Aw climates have annual rainfall of at least 30 inches (76 cm) at minimum, more than most dry subtropical climates (Cs). There are glaring exceptions like you said (southern Arabia, extreme northwest India, north Africa, etc )…but otherwise you would be hard pressed to find a climate that Koppen/Trewartha classified as Aw with less than 30 inches of rainfall annually.




From what I have seen of his early work, Koppen really never had a classification for Highland climates.
Trewartha however devided Highlands into two zones I think:

Highlands in the Tropics - (like Mexico City, Addis Ababa, Quito, Arequipa…etc)…
High-Altitude Climates – (like Ben Nevis, Mt Washington (USA), …etc).

The only difference I can see between the two classifications... is that the “Highlands in the Tropics zones all have a annual mean temp of over 10 C (50 F)…while those in the High-Altitude Climates have a annual mean temp of under 10 C. I don’t think he zoned them based on tropical, subtropical, temperate classification…etc.





In highly marine/oceanic climates like New Zealand climate classification can be tricky it seems. According to Trewarthas zones, only North Island falls into the subtropical zone. Most places on South Island ( places like Motueka/Nelson) have less than 8 months that have a mean temp of over 10 C (50 F) – so he considered them not subtropical. A good parallel here in the USA would be Eugene, Oregon. While semi-mild in the cold season (mean temps in the 5 to 7 C range)…still too cool in winter and not enough months over 10 C to be considered subtropical.

Nelson, New Zealand:
NELSON AERODROME, NEW ZEALAND Weather History and Climate Data

Some places in Oregon are a good fit for here temperature wise, but the rainfall patterns differ a lot.Those stats don't match any for here.
Motueka, New Zealand: Climate, Global Warming, and Daylight Charts and Data

[fabro]

whoever classify Rome as a subtropical climaate is totally wrong,how the hell can be sub tropical when is very far from the tropics???subtropical whether is ONLY find in south America,the usa africa and Australia and the Canary islands.Rome is too cold to fall in that category,night averages during the winter are near the freezing mark and they had snow recently...

[Nivalis]

Night averages for much of the southern US are near/at freezing in the winter, and the snow that falls every 1 to 10 years will make anyone living in the tropics take pictures in awe. The region's still subtropical, though.

[fabro]

Rome can't be subtropical,as Italy and France CAN'T be subtropical,if you take a look at the lat is toohigh to be subtropical..
I know that Rome is not as MILD as people say in the winter,their winter is colder than southern california,Rome is way colder than Los angeles or SAN DIEGO in the winter,Rome is more like a semi continental climate with Some meditterrenean patterns...

[MrMarbles]

[skihikeclimb]

Originally Posted by deneb78

Yes, I was thinking more the cascades rather than the island mountains.

Yup the coastal mountains and the cascade mountain ranges prevent the low lying cities along the pacific northwest coast from getting to cold. If it were not for the Mountains the lowlands of the pacific northwest would be down right frigid in the winter. The PNW is a marine climate characterized by mild winters and cool summers. Vancouver B.C. and Seattle are farther north than Toronto and places on the eastern seaboard yet are way more mild in the winter. Yet in the summer they are much cooler.



I would say Rome is a Mediterranean climate.

[Kaul]

I don't see the argument here. Mediterranean climate is just a subset of subtropical, so Rome is subtropical. New York city is on the same latitude as Rome and is also a subtropical climate.

[Kaul]

Originally Posted by fabro

Rome can't be subtropical,as Italy and France CAN'T be subtropical,if you take a look at the lat is toohigh to be subtropical..
I know that Rome is not as MILD as people say in the winter,their winter is colder than southern california,Rome is way colder than Los angeles or SAN DIEGO in the winter,Rome is more like a semi continental climate with Some meditterrenean patterns...

New york city is way colder than Rome in winter and is still considered subtropical. Rome is too hot in the summer to be classified as anything else.

[Kaul]

Originally Posted by deneb78

I don't think this is true. According to Koppen, Victoria, BC and Seattle, WA have a Csb climate which is classified as a "Mediterranean climate" yet I would hardly call these places subtropical.

Vancouver and Seattle are classified as having a marine west coast climate, not Mediterranean. Los angeles would be an example of Mediterranean.

[deneb78]

Originally Posted by Kaul

Vancouver and Seattle are classified as having a marine west coast climate, not Mediterranean. Los angeles would be an example of Mediterranean.

Actually, according to Köppen's original climate classification system, Victoria, BC and Seattle, WA (not quite Vancouver) technically fit into the cool summer mediterranean climate (Csb). However, the fact that they DO fit into this category is a major shortcoming of Köppen and that's why Trewartha's system is better since it seems to better correlate climate type with vegetation.