Continental Subarctic Climate

continental subarctic climate, major climate type of the Köppen classification dominated by the winter season, a long, bitterly cold period with short, clear days, relatively little precipitation (mostly in the form of snow), and low humidity. It is located north of the humid continental climate, from about 50° to 70° N, in a broad swath extending from Alaska to Newfoundland in North America and from northern Scandinavia to Siberia in Eurasia. In the Köppen-Geiger-Pohl system, the continental subarctic climate is divided into the Dfc, Dfd, Dwc, and Dwd subtypes.

In Asia the Siberian anticyclone, the source of continental polar air, dominates the interior of the continent, and mean temperatures 40–50 °C (40–58 °F) below freezing are not unusual. The North American representative of this climate is not as severe but is still profoundly cold. Mean monthly temperatures are below freezing for six to eight months, with an average frost-free period of only 50–90 days per year, and snow remains on the ground for many months. Summers are short and mild, with long days and a prevalence of frontal precipitation associated with maritime tropical air within traveling cyclones. Mean temperatures in summer only rarely exceed 16 °C (61 °F), except in interior regions where values near 25 °C (77 °F) are possible. As a result of these temperature extremes, annual temperature ranges are larger in continental subarctic climates than in any other climate type on Earth, up to 30 °C (54 °F) through much of the area and more than 60 °C (108 °F) in central Siberia, although coastal areas are more moderate.

Annual precipitation totals are mostly less than 50 cm (about 20 inches), with a concentration in the summer. Higher totals, however, occur in marine areas near warm ocean currents. Such areas also are generally somewhat more equable and may be designated marine subarctic climates. Areas with a distinct dry season in winter, which correspond to the Köppen climate types Dwc and Dwd, occur in eastern Siberia, both in the region where the wintertime anticyclone is established and in the peripheral areas subject to dry, divergent airflow from it.