How is Anchorage a dry-summer climate? (hottest, averages, precipitation, places)
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I would like to know how Anchorage, AK is considered a Dsc, dry-summer Subarctic climate, despite the fact that it clearly receives much more precipitation April-September than it does October-March.
This can bring quite controversial topic but simply because October being at least 3 times wetter than April. If average March precipitation was drier than 8.3mm it could be both Dsc and Dwc lol
One of the most commonly used criteria to define “dry summer” climates (Cs, Ds) is that the driest month during the high-sun semester had an average of less than one third compared to the wettest low-sun semester. In case of Anchorage, April averages 12 mm and October averages 52 mm.
Anchorage exposes a significant flaw with this criterion, as it’s obviously not a dry summer climate; the summer and the high-sun season as a whole are much wetter than the winter and the low-sun season.
Considering the percentage of the high-sun/low-sun semesters as a primary or secondary factor or sticking to the true summer/winter months would work better. For all purposes, Anchorage is a Dfc climate (Differentiation between Df and Dw doesn’t make much sense to me, but this is a whole different discussion).
Location: Live:Downtown Phoenix, AZ/Work:Greater Los Angeles, CA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mhc1985
One of the most commonly used criteria to define “dry summer” climates (Cs, Ds) is that the driest month during the high-sun semester had an average of less than one third compared to the wettest low-sun semester. In case of Anchorage, April averages 12 mm and October averages 52 mm.
Anchorage exposes a significant flaw with this criterion, as it’s obviously not a dry summer climate; the summer and the high-sun season as a whole are much wetter than the winter and the low-sun season.
Considering the percentage of the high-sun/low-sun semesters as a primary or secondary factor or sticking to the true summer/winter months would work better. For all purposes, Anchorage is a Dfc climate (Differentiation between Df and Dw doesn’t make much sense to me, but this is a whole different discussion).
Not just Anchorage, but Prescott, Payson and Flagstaff as well. They are considered Csa, Csa and Dsb respectively despite July to September being their wettest parts of the year, simply because May and June are drier than their fall and winter months
This can bring quite controversial topic but simply because October being at least 3 times wetter than April. If average March precipitation was drier than 8.3mm it could be both Dsc and Dwc lol
Many places in India are technically both Csa and Cwa. Since a hot dry season in late spring often precedes the late summer monsoon, April is often 3 times drier than October. The w takes precedence over the s since the monsoon rains overpower the dry part of the summer.
Suggested Koppen modification: in order for a climate to be an "s" climate, the wettest month must not be in the hottest five months (usually in the northern hemisphere May to September) and to be a "w" climate the wettest month must not be in the coolest five months (usually November to March).
Location: Live:Downtown Phoenix, AZ/Work:Greater Los Angeles, CA
27,606 posts, read 14,585,101 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wawa1992
Suggested Koppen modification: in order for a climate to be an "s" climate, the wettest month must not be in the hottest five months (usually in the northern hemisphere May to September) and to be a "w" climate the wettest month must not be in the coolest five months (usually November to March).
I agree with that
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