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Back in early 2016, I was taking a class where one of the things we learned about was climate. The professor said something to the effect of the tundra thaws out for only a few weeks each year. I told the professor that while the tundra is very cold, most of it is thawed out for 2 to 4 months out of the year, and that his description was accurate for the coldest tundra climates.
While somewhere like Alert, Nunavut averages about 38 F / 3 C in its warmest month, is only snow free for 4-6 weeks per year on average (typically early-mid July to mid-late August), and has 24 hour average temperatures above freezing for only about 2 months (June 16 - August 25), and some other very far north places like Franz Josef Land, Vize Island, and some of the Russian arctic islands north of about 78 N.
The "typical" Arctic tundra, at least what comes to mind when someone says "Arctic tundra", has an average warmest month around 41-48 F / 5-9 C. This is cool enough to be firmly in the tundra range, not bordering on a boreal forest or ice cap, and is where many of the settlements are. This encompasses climates like Barrow, AK; Iqaluit and Cambridge Bay, Nunavut; Nuuk, Greenland; Longyearbyen, Svalbard; and Dikson, Tiksi, and Pevek, Russia. All of these are settlements with over 2,000 people in the Arctic except for Dikson (it had over 4,000 people in 1989).
They also have above-freezing seasons of a few months. Going by 24-hour means, per WeatherSpark:
Barrow, AK: June 6 - September 18
Iqaluit, NU: May 29 - October 2
Cambridge Bay, NU: June 8 - September 18
Nuuk, GL: May 9 - October 15
Longyearbyen, SB: May 31 - September 22
Dikson, RU: June 10 - September 26
Tiksi, RU: June 3 - September 22
Pevek, RU: May 22 - September 26
Utquiagvik (Barrow) shows an average low temperature above freezing for 2 months of the year. So, not sure it could be considered "thawed out" for any longer. Perhaps, if the daily average is above freezing for the time period you've given though. Interesting concept.
Kerguelen Islands is a tundra climate that is firmly above freezing all year. It just means no month is over 10C and not necessarily that the ground is frozen.
I would say that Nuuk is the best example of a Tundra climate in the summer, but it's winters are too mild to be a true Tundra climate (in my opinion). I would say that Barrow is the best example.
Kerguelen Islands is a tundra climate that is firmly above freezing all year. It just means no month is over 10C and not necessarily that the ground is frozen.
Woop, Kerguelen Islands!
I wanted to upvote this but the forum won't let me for some reason.
I personally associate a tundra climate with cool maritime influenced islands such as Kerguelen Islands, Crozet Islands, Unalaska and Campbell Island than those continental influenced climates with bitterly cold winters such as Nuuk and Barrow (which seem more subarctic in essence).
When I think of tundra, I think of a Toyota, just kidding. I think of the barren lands of Northern Siberia. I honestly would not even have thought of islands with significant maritime input.
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