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Does Köppen focus excessively on summer temperatures when differentiating continental climates into Dxa/hot-summer vs Dxb/hemiboreal climates, and assigns the latter as closer to Dfc/subarctic/boreal climates than the former, even while many Dxb climates (especially those in Eastern Europe, which have a stronger oceanic influence, and hence milder winters and warmer transition seasons) have a warmer annual mean than many Dxa climates (especially those in Manchuria, where the high continentality drives the Dwa/Dwb boundary northward into areas with severe winters), and could perhaps be considered as "less" subarctic than hypercontinental Dxa climates?
Example:
Compare Jiamusi to Kiev, which both meet the strict -3°C criterion for Dx climates:
While Jiamusi averages nearly 6°C cooler than Kiev throughout the year, with a chillier May and Sept (the latter by just a hair), its climate is Dwa, and hence 'less' subarctic-leaning or hemiboreal than Kiev's Dfb climate, and presumably, Kiev's hardiness zone would also be milder, allowing for more temperate plant life.
Would most people view Kiev as more hemiboreal/closer-to-subarctic than Jiamusi? Does Köppen misassign climates with oceanic influence to be more subarctic-leaning, or is only the hottest peak of the warm season relevant (i.e. there is little difference between -3 and -18°C, as plant growth is impossible at either of these temperatures) with continental climates?
Last edited by tij; 01-14-2019 at 01:29 AM..
Reason: Forgot "cooler"
Jiamusi is by all means more subarctic than Kiev. I prefer to use average annual temperature instead of a threshold on just one season.
Yes, I think, because just 5 degrees north of Jiamusi, we encounter subarctic, so the Dfb zone is quite small (I wonder if some of these climates could have "hot-summer subarctic" years, where summer is >22C and less than 4 months are above 10C!)
What would you propose should be the barrier between Dfa and Dfb climates? There is a transition to hemiboreal forest just north of Minneapolis, so 6/7C could be the dividing line.
I still feel though that many climates in China may have more growing degree days/a stronger growing season than what the average temperatures merely suggest. Obviously, there will be a bit of a delay because the soil must thaw from the harsh winters, but places should Harbin should be able to grow "corn-belt" crops rather than "wheat-belt" crops (I think that boundary marks off the Dfa climates of Iowa, Southern Minnesota, & South Dakota from say, the Dfbs of Northern MN, Manitoba, Saskatchewan etc...)
Hmm... I'm thinking that Dfb= mixed forest vs Dfa= temperate forest that 'maps' on to the forests of European Cfb climates, but I don't believe that is true in Eastern Europe...
Last edited by tij; 01-15-2019 at 01:45 AM..
Reason: few typos
I think this debate correlates to the debate between whether warm temperate Cfb's like Auckland or Bilbao are more "subtropical" than chilly Cfa's like Milan or New York... but the subtropical boundary may be more controversial...
Last edited by tij; 01-15-2019 at 01:46 AM..
Reason: added example from Europe
I think no.
You can have Dfa climate like this:
Mean,°C: -25; -17; -9; -1; 7; 15; 23; 15; 7; -1; -9; -17; -1.
This is very simplified scheme by monthes (Jan; Feb; Mar; Apr; May; Jun; Jul; Aug; Sep; Oct; Nov; Dec; Year).
And Dfb like this:
Mean, °C: -6; -2; 2; 6; 10; 14; 18; 14; 10; 6; 2; -2; 6.
First climate is colder than second. Second climate is pretty close to my hometown. I couldn't call it subarctic.
Places like Duluth are indeed more subarctic than a place such as Chicago, but I would not always class Dfb’s as being more subarctic than Dfa’s 100% of the time.....
Jiamusi is by all means more subarctic than Kiev. I prefer to use average annual temperature instead of a threshold on just one season.
sure, Kiev is 5c warmer annually... Also Kiev sits at 50N, Jiamusi is at 46N. Southern Russia and Ukraine get pretty warm summers, while the NW part has an oceanic influence which is completely absent from eastern asian climates.
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