Tropical ClimatesTropical Savanna

Tropical Rainforest

Tropical Savanna

Hot all year round, a few months are very dry, broad grassland, few trees

Tropical Rain Forest

Description – Hot and rainy all year round, lush vegetation

Mild ClimatesHumid Subtropical

MediterraneanMarine West Coast Climate

Location: mid-latitudes (close to tropics)Description - hot humid summers with heavy rain; short and mild winter, deciduous trees (oak, magnolia, palms)

Humid Subtropical

Mediterranean

Location: around Mediterranean SeaDescription - Mild rainy winters and hot dry summers, short shrubs, trees, some coniferous trees

Marine West Coast

Location: mid-latitudes, west coastDescription – Winds from the ocean make it mild; rainy winters and cool summers, deciduous and coniferous forests

Continental Climates

Humid ContinentalSubarctic

Humid Continental

Location: mid latitudeDescription: 4 seasons; winters can be long, cold and snowy but there are short hot summers, deciduous forests, grassland

Subarctic Climate

Close to the polar regions; cold bitter winters but temperatures go above freezing in summer, taiga (coniferous forests)

Polar Climates

TundraIce Cap

Tundra

Arctic region; “vast treeless plain” cold, harsh and dry; permafrost

Ice Cap

Bitterly cold with giant ice sheets; monthly averages do not go above freezing

Dry ClimatesSteppeDesert

Steppe

surrounds many deserts with partly dry grasslands and prairies; 10-20 inches of annual rainfall

Desert

Dry all year; gets less than 10 inches of annual rainfall

Highland Climates

Highland/Mountain

Highland or Mountain

Local climates vary greatly because of differences in elevation; cool to cold climates year round; tall mountains will have a timberline.