Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
The climate zone of the mid-latitudes is often split into two
regions: the first is the western edges of the continents; the second is
the interiors of the continents combined with similar conditions
experienced on eastern edges of continents. The winds experienced
on the eastern continental edges of the mid-latitudes (e.g. eastern
side of North America and Asia) have generally had a long journey
across land. Hence the climate is closely related to that in the centre
of the continent. Therefore, these two areas are classified under the
same climate zone.
Mid-latitude western continental edge climates are mainly
found in the northern hemisphere but New Zealand, Tasmania
and southern Chile are also considered to fit this zone. The
western margins of continents have mild winters for their latitude
because of the warm ocean currents (e.g. Gulf Stream or East
Australian Current as shown in Figure 1.3). These climates have a
small range of annual temperature with precipitation distributed
throughout the year but with considerable enhancement of pre-
cipitation by coastal mountain ranges (see below). Average winter
temperatures are typically between 2° and 8°C with average
summer maximum temperatures between 15° and 25°C. Precipi-
tation totals generally range from 500 to 1,200 millimetres per
year. These climate zones can be windy, particularly in coastal
areas, and mid-latitude depressions can bring strong, damaging
winds. A Mediterranean-type climate, consisting of a mild, half-
year wet winter and a half-year hot, dry summer is found in
south-west South Africa, central Chile, on south-west coastlines
in southern Australia, in California, as well as in the Mediterra-
nean itself (see also Chapter 5 for a description of the typical veg-
etation of Mediterranean-type climate areas). Average winter
temperatures in Mediterranean climates range from 5° to 12°C
with summer daytime maximums of 25° to 30°C. Precipitation
totals typically range from 400 to 750 millimetres per year but
with a summer minimum.
The mid-latitude continental interiors and their eastern margins
have cold winters (average winter temperatures around 0°C) with
frequent snowfall which often does not melt until the spring thaw
while summers are hot and humid (around 25°C). Winters become
colder further north (of 45°N) or west into the centres of the mid-
latitude continents and summers also become cooler and less
