Proposal for a Less Messy Temp Classification System (climate, hottest, warmest)

[Phil75230]

Basically based on the Average Temperature of the Earth: 60 F / 15.5 C. Note that each element is NOT always a separate product, as some climates do qualify for more than one of the following items. (e.g. Houston and Austin qualify as both Warm and Warm Temperate; Traverse City, Mich. qualifies both as Cool Temperate and Cool; etc.)

ALSO: I purposely left out precipitation and even the freezing temperature of water. I intend to look for a literally universal system that can be used on other planets as well (Mars the most obvious example). I see this as a pretty objective way to determine temperatures at a certain locale on a planet without liquids flowing on the surface. In short, I'm using Earth to test this model out.

Torrid: Average nightly low temp in the coldest month is above 60F (Miami is right on the Border, with Havana and Acapulco definitely qualifying)

Hot: Average monthly temperature of the coldest month above 60F but average nightly low below 60F(Orlando and La Paz, Baja California del Sur are on or near the border)

Warm: Average daily high of both coldest month above 60 F, but the average monthly temp for the coldest month below 60F ( the rest of Florida, plus South Georgia and anything within an hours drive of the Gulf of Mexico qualify, as do Austin and San Antonio. on the west coast, San Diego is the northern boundary of warm).

Warm Temperate: Average yearly Temperature above 60F but average daily high in coldest month below 60F, but an(in the Eastern US, basically anywhere north of Interstate 10 but south of Interstate 40; on the west coast that would be San Diego to just south of San Francisco, but does include Sacramento albeit barely)

Cool Temperate: Average yearly temperature below 60F but average nightly low temp in the warmest month above 60F but (east coast, from about Richmond VA north to Portland Maine, westward to include even Montreal and Toronto, plus most of the great lakes except Lake Superior; west coast would be from San Francisco to N. Vancouver Island)

Cool: Average nightly low temperature in the warmest month is below 60F but the average monthly temp for the warmest month is above 60F (Coastal areas from Portland, ME to St John's, NL, westward to include Quebec City and central Quebec straight westward to Lake Superior, then more or less following the US-Canada border to at least North Dakota; West Coast, N. Vancouver Island to Sitka, AK)

Cold: Average temperature for the warmest month below 60F but average daily high for that month above 60F (most of Canada between Winnipeg and the 'Tree Line" ; Alaska Panhandle, and probably most of Alaska south of the Arctic Circle as well).

Frigid: Average daily high in the warmest month below 60F (pretty much the 'tree line').


ADDED: I realized that although this avoids the pitfalls of Koppen-Geiger's C climates (i.e. Tampa and Rejkjavik in the same broad scheme), it does nothing to distinguish Dublin and Warsaw, or Seattle and Quebec City.

[Caleb Yeung]

Hong Kong would be hot.

[Ariete]

London = Cool
Kiev, Madrid, Milan = Cool Temperate

Doesn't sound right...

[Joe90]

Going to fail this one. My climate isn't the same as Moscow, and it isn't a colder climate than Montreal.

This system doesn't provide a better understanding of the world's climates.

[EduardoFinatto]

My definition, only for temperatures:

Year
A = Very hot annual average (above 25C/77F)
B = Hot annual average (above 20C/68F)
C = Warm annual average (above 15C/59F)
D = Cool annual average (above 10C/50F)
E = Cold annual average (above 0C/32F)
F = Very cold annual average (below 0C/32F)

Hottest month
a = Very hot summers (above 30C/86F)
b = Hot summers (above 25C/77F)
c = Warm summers (above 20C/68F)
d = Cool summers (above 15C/59F)
e = Cold summers (above 10C/50F)
f = Very cold summers (below 10C/41F)

Coldest month
g = Very hot winters (above 20C/68F)
h = Hot winters (above 15C/59F)
i = Warm winters (above 10C/50F)
j = Cool winters (above 0C/32F)
k = Cold winters (below 0C/32F)
l = Very cold winters (below -10/14F)

Examples

My climate = Cci
New York City = Dcj
Los Angeles = Cci
Miami = Abg
Phoenix = Bai
Vancouver = Ddj
Moscow = Edk
Longyearbyen = Ffl

What do you think?

[Joe90]

Ddj for here, so the same as Vancouver, which is a lot more sensible than putting it in the same group as Moscow, or saying it's a colder climate than Montreal.

[WoodstockSchool1980]

I am all for classifications that more realistically say what the climate really feels like. However, I think it will always be a case of not really knowing what it feels like until you stay there a while.

There's the humidity factor, which changes things a lot. Winters here in western Oregon are very humid, and summers are almost bone-dry with cool nights. Aside from how it feels, I also can't grow tomatoes anything like I can get in NJ (the best).

Then there are complications such as the monsoons in India. May is usually the hottest month, before the monsoons start. With the change that happens usually in June, there's another example of how "you have to be there".

I'm all for a more descriptive system of classifying climates, but it can get pretty complicated no matter how you classify them. There will never be an easy classification.

[Joe90]

Originally Posted by WoodstockSchool1980

I am all for classifications that more realistically say what the climate really feels like. However, I think it will always be a case of not really knowing what it feels like until you stay there a while.

There's the humidity factor, which changes things a lot. Winters here in western Oregon are very humid, and summers are almost bone-dry with cool nights. Aside from how it feels, I also can't grow tomatoes anything like I can get in NJ (the best).

Then there are complications such as the monsoons in India. May is usually the hottest month, before the monsoons start. With the change that happens usually in June, there's another example of how "you have to be there".

I'm all for a more descriptive system of classifying climates, but it can get pretty complicated no matter how you classify them. There will never be an easy classification.

Good point about the tomatoes. I look for visual clues like vegetation as to what (I think ) climates actually feel like. Other things like building styles, colouring of landscapes,sky etc, denseness of vegetation etc, often say a lot about climate.

I think the most relevant description of climates in temperate regions are Maritime, Continental and Subtropical, those titles can describe just about everything relevant to climates within temperate zones.

Any system based on a single season, isn't workable.

[L.A.-Mex]

Originally Posted by EduardoFinatto

My definition, only for temperatures:

Year
A = Very hot annual average (above 25C/77F)
B = Hot annual average (above 20C/68F)
C = Warm annual average (above 15C/59F)
D = Cool annual average (above 10C/50F)
E = Cold annual average (above 0C/32F)
F = Very cold annual average (below 0C/32F)

Hottest month
a = Very hot summers (above 30C/86F)
b = Hot summers (above 25C/77F)
c = Warm summers (above 20C/68F)
d = Cool summers (above 15C/59F)
e = Cold summers (above 10C/50F)
f = Very cold summers (below 10C/41F)

Coldest month
g = Very hot winters (above 20C/68F)
h = Hot winters (above 15C/59F)
i = Warm winters (above 10C/50F)
j = Cool winters (above 0C/32F)
k = Cold winters (below 0C/32F)
l = Very cold winters (below -10/14F)

Examples

My climate = Cci
New York City = Dcj
Los Angeles = Cci
Miami = Abg
Phoenix = Bai
Vancouver = Ddj
Moscow = Edk
Longyearbyen = Ffl

What do you think?

is that for yearly average max, or yearly mean?
for the hottest/coldest month is it based on average monthly max or monthly mean?

[Ethereal]

Except, places like New York are too cool for 'warm temperate' and too warm for 'cool temperate'.