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Is there a contradiction with Cfb climates and snowfall?
No.
An area's flora has either evolved to deal with snowfall, or it hasn't, and that is independent of classification for Cfa and Cfb areas- for the majority of lowland NZ Flora, even very small snowfalls are major events in term of damage, which goes hand in hand with no dormancy and active growth.
Snow is significant to me, because when my area received half an inch in 2011, it caused a lot of damage to the native lowland flora - it simply hadn't evolved to deal with snowfall, with rapid growth and acute angles that could handle no snow loading.
I personally see no contradiction with Cfa climates and snowfall.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ed's Mountain
Snow is the canary in the coal mine for all the ridiculously bipolar, capricious, spasmodic, mercurial, and otherwise unpredictable weather the US southeast stuffers from in the winter.
You never seem to see much in the way of heat/flooding regarding damage to vegetation. It always strikes me how asymmetric it is, when even a light freeze spells huge changes for an environment in a way not seen with the insane heat spells of Melbourne (at least, not that I'm aware of): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melbourne#Climate
Last edited by kemahkami; 01-02-2022 at 07:04 PM..
Agreed with Ed. I don't know of any place in Ohio which has no regular snowfall.
I think I know of one region, the northeastern sections, but even then, it's only 50% for a White Christmas, which is one metric, but I am sure there are more accurate ways to know if a climate is snowy or not.
You never seem to see much in the way of heat/flooding regarding damage to vegetation. It always strikes me how asymmetric it is, when even a light freeze spells huge changes for an environment in a way not seen with the insane heat spells of Melbourne (at least, not that I'm aware of): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melbourne#Climate
Vegetation around Melbourne is very much determined by it's response to periods of high temperatures and generally dry conditions imo. While it seems to have a reputation as an English garden type environment, thats's only relative to Australia, and I've always viewed it as more central/southern Californian in the feel of the environment, particularly summer.
Light freeze is much mitigated by warmer maximums and higher levels of winter sunshine. Freeze and/or snow damage is compounded when conditions stay cool and overcast - somewhere between those two are big increases in the range of species that can be viable.
Even the hill country to the north and east of Melbourne dries out significantly in the summer months. Some friends of mine have 17 acres at St Andrews ( about 45klm north east of the City ). I'm guessing an average of 700mm-750mm per annum.
But in Feb 2019 when I took these pics, there was not a blade of green grass and the bush was stressed.
Even the hill country to the north and east of Melbourne dries out significantly in the summer months. Some friends of mine have 17 acres at St Andrews ( about 45klm north east of the City ). I'm guessing an average of 700mm-750mm per annum.
But in Feb 2019 when I took these pics, there was not a blade of green grass and the bush was stressed.
This is why I hate Mediterranean climates, dry summers are a big red flag for someone who would like to see lusher landscapes. Although they do have interesting things too, but stormy weather is much better than no rain at all, and idc if it lasts a whole day, cause Myrtle Beach has warm winters and that suffices me enough, well more than enough. I am just here just to experiment with the climate, which I should mention, that New Zealand has a better climate than here. That is because of primarily speaking, the cooler summers, but still warm enough to distinct it from other seasons.
The South only has tan slabs due to the fact, ironically speaking, the hot summers. I'd bet if summer highs were 75-82F instead of 84-92F, then the grass would stay green in the winter, despite some areas having green grass, but that is rather because they didn't plant Floridian or Bermudan grasses, which are clearly far more tropical than a place with a regular winter season. That being said, Myrtle Beach is subtropical, but also fairly cool too. Zone 8 is where I draw the line of the real subtropics, zone 7 is close but not there yet. Zone 7 can grow lavender, has a thriving wine industry, and abundant broadleaf evergreen understory, despite the canopy basically being deciduous.
I’m not sure why deciduous trees are used as a reason why somewhere isn’t subtropical. As previously mentioned, they appear in tropical savannah climates as well. Also, the main reason why they’re not as common in the native environments of somewhere like Australia has much more to do with evolutionary biology than simple temperatures. In the Victorian Alps and Great Snowy mountains you can go skiing in the middle of July past fully leaved Eucalyptus trees in -5°C weather. It’s not like they would all die off if someone planted these in Kentucky
I’m not sure why deciduous trees are used as a reason why somewhere isn’t subtropical. As previously mentioned, they appear in tropical savannah climates as well. Also, the main reason why they’re not as common in the native environments of somewhere like Australia has much more to do with evolutionary biology than simple temperatures. In the Victorian Alps and Great Snowy mountains you can go skiing in the middle of July past fully leaved Eucalyptus trees in -5°C weather. It’s not like they would all die off if someone planted these in Kentucky
Just the idea that plant ecosystems based around dormancy indicate a shift into 4 season, and 4 season climates wouldn't logically be subtropical.
Just the idea that plant ecosystems based around dormancy indicate a shift into 4 season, and 4 season climates wouldn't logically be tropical.
FTFY
If you’d said tropical, I would agree
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