Tundra climate

Polar climate sub-type

The tundra climate is a polar climate sub-type located in high latitudes and high mountains. It is classified as ET according to Köppen climate classification. It is a climate which at least one month has an average temperature high enough to melt snow (0 °C or 32 °F), but no month with an average temperature in excess of 10 °C (50 °F).^[1] If the climate occurs at high elevations, it is known as alpine climate.^[2]

Despite the potential diversity of climates in the ET category involving precipitation, extreme temperatures, and relative wet and dry seasons, this category is rarely subdivided. Rainfall and snowfall are generally slight due to the low vapor pressure of water in the chilly atmosphere, but as a rule potential evapotranspiration is extremely low, allowing soggy terrain of swamps and bogs even in places that get precipitation typical of deserts of lower and middle latitudes. The amount of native tundra biomass depends more on the local temperature than the amount of precipitation.^[1]

Tundra climates are the third coldest Köppen climate type on Earth, though extreme subarctic climates (Dfd/Dwd/Dsd) can experience significantly colder winters. There also exists an oceanic variety of the tundra climate with cool to mild winters (the coldest month averaging around 0°C) which borders the subpolar oceanic climate (Cfc) and is found in parts of Iceland, the Aleutian Islands and most predominantly on subantarctic islands.

Climate charts

Nuuk, Greenland, Denmark

Climate chart (explanation)

J	F	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D
67 −5 −10	51 −6 −11	59 −5 −10	53 −1 −5	57 4 −1	62 8 2	69 11 4	91 10 5	105 7 2	81 2 −2	79 −1 −5	75 −3 −8
█ Average max. and min. temperatures in °C
█ Precipitation totals in mm
Source: Danish Meteorological Institute^[3]^[4]

Imperial conversion
J	F	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D
2.6 23 15	2 21 12	2.3 23 14	2.1 31 23	2.3 39 30	2.4 47 36	2.7 52 40	3.6 50 40	4.1 44 36	3.2 36 29	3.1 30 22	2.9 26 18
█ Average max. and min. temperatures in °F
█ Precipitation totals in inches

Utqiagvik, Alaska, United States

Climate chart (explanation)

J	F	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D
3.6 −21 −28	5.3 −21 −28	4.6 −20 −27	4.6 −12 −19	7.1 −3 −8	11 5 −1	25 9 2	28 7 2	20 3 −1	14 −4 −8	9.4 −11 −18	5.6 −18 −25
█ Average max. and min. temperatures in °C
█ Precipitation totals in mm
Source: NOAA^[5]^[6]

Imperial conversion
J	F	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D
0.1 −5 −18	0.2 −5 −18	0.2 −4 −17	0.2 11 −3	0.3 27 19	0.4 41 31	1 48 36	1.1 44 35	0.8 37 30	0.6 26 17	0.4 11 0	0.2 0 −12
█ Average max. and min. temperatures in °F
█ Precipitation totals in inches

Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Norway

Climate chart (explanation)

J	F	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D
21 −8 −14	17 −8 −15	16 −9 −16	9 −6 −12	8 −1 −4	8 6 2	20 9 5	23 8 4	26 4 0	18 −2 −6	22 −4 −9	24 −6 −12
█ Average max. and min. temperatures in °C
█ Precipitation totals in mm
Source: Norwegian Meteorological Institute^[7]

Imperial conversion
J	F	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D
0.8 18 6	0.7 17 5	0.6 16 4	0.4 22 10	0.3 31 25	0.3 42 36	0.8 49 42	0.9 47 40	1 39 33	0.7 29 21	0.9 25 15	0.9 21 10
█ Average max. and min. temperatures in °F
█ Precipitation totals in inches

Tiksi, Sakha Republic, Russia

Climate chart (explanation)

J	F	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D
22 −26 −33	15 −27 −34	10 −21 −30	8 −12 −22	15 −2 −9	28 8 1	45 13 5	48 12 5	27 5 −1	15 −7 −13	19 −19 −26	21 −25 −32
█ Average max. and min. temperatures in °C
█ Precipitation totals in mm
Source: погода и климат^[8]

Imperial conversion
J	F	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D
0.9 −15 −28	0.6 −16 −29	0.4 −6 −22	0.3 10 −8	0.6 28 16	1.1 46 33	1.8 55 40	1.9 53 41	1.1 41 31	0.6 19 8	0.7 −2 −14	0.8 −12 −25
█ Average max. and min. temperatures in °F
█ Precipitation totals in inches

Tolhuin, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina

Climate chart (explanation)

J	F	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D
64 14 5	46 14 4	54 12 2	52 9 0	52 5 −2	50 3 −5	42 3 −5	41 4 −3	38 7 −1	36 10 0	41 12 2	60 13 4
█ Average max. and min. temperatures in °C
█ Precipitation totals in mm
Source: Servicio Meteorológico Nacional^[9]

Imperial conversion
J	F	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D
2.5 57 40	1.8 57 39	2.1 54 36	2 48 33	2 42 28	2 37 24	1.6 37 23	1.6 40 27	1.5 44 29	1.4 50 33	1.6 53 36	2.4 56 38
█ Average max. and min. temperatures in °F
█ Precipitation totals in inches

Macquarie Island, Tasmania, Australia

Climate chart (explanation)

J	F	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D
89 9 5	86 9 5	101 8 5	94 7 4	87 6 3	79 5 2	75 5 2	77 5 2	77 5 2	78 6 2	74 7 3	81 8 4
█ Average max. and min. temperatures in °C
█ Precipitation totals in mm
Source: Australian Bureau of Meteorology^[10]^[11]

Imperial conversion
J	F	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D
3.5 48 42	3.4 48 42	4 46 40	3.7 45 39	3.4 43 37	3.1 41 35	2.9 41 35	3 41 35	3 42 35	3.1 42 36	2.9 44 37	3.2 46 40
█ Average max. and min. temperatures in °F
█ Precipitation totals in inches

References

^ ^a ^b "Tundra climate". Encyclopædia Britannica. 31 July 2017.
^ McKnight, Tom L; Hess, Darrel (2000). "Climate Zones and Types: The Köppen System". Physical Geography: A Landscape Appreciation. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall. pp. 235–7. ISBN 978-0-13-020263-5.
^ "Klimanormaler Grønland" (PDF). DMI (in Danish). Archived from the original on 2024-02-17. Retrieved 2021-11-26.
^ "The Observed Climate of Greenland, 1958–99 with Climatological Standard Normals, 1961–90" (PDF). Danish Meteorological Institute. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2024-02-17. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
^ Cite error: The named reference 4wxd was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ "Summary of Monthly Normals 1991–2020". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Archived from the original on August 9, 2023. Retrieved March 14, 2022.
^ "EKlima". Archived from the original on 28 January 2021. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
^ Погода в Тикси
^ "Climatología general argentina" [Argentine general climatology]. gustfront.com.ar (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 10 April 2021. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
^ Cite error: The named reference bom was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ "Daily maximum temperature: Macquarie Island". Bureau of Meteorology. Retrieved 2022-10-08.