Climate graphs of world cities – read, build and classify climates
GeographyWeather & ClimateAges 15–16
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Sign in to playMonthly temperature (line) and rainfall (bars) for ten cities with different climates: equatorial, tropical monsoon, savanna, hot desert, Mediterranean, humid subtropical, temperate maritime, continental and tundra, including cities in the Southern Hemisphere. A table works out the annual mean temperature, annual range, total rainfall, dry months and the hemisphere. Choose a climate type and press Check for feedback based on a simplified Köppen classification; Build mode lets you drag rainfall bars and temperature points to make your own station, and Compare mode puts two cities on the same graph.
Lesson: Climate graphs (climographs); climate zones and climate types of the world
What it shows
A climate graph shows the average temperature and rainfall of each month at one place, based on about thirty years of records. From it you can read the hottest and coldest months, the annual temperature range, the total rainfall and when the wet and dry seasons fall. The shape of the graph gives the climate away: equatorial places are hot and wet all year, deserts get almost no rain, Mediterranean places have dry summers, and in the Southern Hemisphere the warmest months are December to February.
How to use
Pick a City and read the graph and the table below it. Choose a climate type in the Climate type list and press Check: a wrong first try gives a hint, a second one shows the answer. Press Play months to step through the year. In Build mode, choose Drag to edit and drag bars or points to create your own climate. Compare mode shows the city from the Compare with list too.
Parameters you can change
- City Singapore, Yangon (Myanmar), Darwin (Australia), Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), Rome (Italy), Cape Town (South Africa), London (UK), Moscow (Russia), Utqiaġvik (Alaska), Sydney (Australia)
- City to compare Singapore, Yangon (Myanmar), Darwin (Australia), Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), Rome (Italy), Cape Town (South Africa), London (UK), Moscow (Russia), Utqiaġvik (Alaska), Sydney (Australia)
- Mode Read the graph, Build your own graph, Compare two cities
- Shade the dry months
Questions to explore
- Why are the hottest months of Sydney and London at opposite times of the year?
- How do the rainy seasons of Rome and Cape Town differ, and why are both called Mediterranean?
- Which months would you change to turn Singapore's graph into a savanna climate?
