A question about continental climates

[Derp Patrol]

So I've been looking at various climate data for different cities out of interest recently, and it has come to my surprise just how hot and sunny it is on average for areas around the same latitude of southern Britain at this time of year.

 

For example, places such as Donetsk, and Atyrau (Ukrain and Kazakhstan) are between 47 N and 48 N and seem to have weather similar to southern Spain.

 

 

For example:

 

Donetsk lies 48N and has average max temperatures of:

 

June: 25

July: 27

August: 27

 

with much higher sunshine hours than Britain (yes this is to be expected as we are an island, but it is similar to a Mediterranean sunshine hours)

 

Even more surprising was when I searched Atyrau in Kazakhstan that lies at just 47 degrees North yet averages max temperatures of:

 

June: 31

July: 33

August: 32

 

and sunshine hours above 330 each month.

 

To put this into perspective, London which lies at 51 degrees north averages max temperatures of:

 

June: 21

July: 23

August: 23

 

and sunshine hours way below above, just over 200 each month.

 

 

Sevilla, probably the hottest city in Europe, lies at 36N and averages max temperatures of:

 

June: 31

July: 36

August: 36

 

slightly warmer than Atyrau yet about 12 degrees further south in latitude with a much stronger sun, close to the massive heat machine of the Sahara Desert and with almost constant high pressure throughout May to September.

 

I understand that continental climates are usually warmer in summer due to land heating up more easily etc, but it seems extreme for an area just 48N to have average maxes the same as Sevilla when they both build up heat during the summer months. How is it possible that an area so far north builds up such heat?

[AderynCoch]

My tuppence:

 

Central Asia is as far away from the world's oceans as you can get and subsequently not at the mercy of moderating maritime influences. Kazakhstan is hardcore continental - in winter it can be as cold as Siberia.

 

Furthermore, north of Iran/Afghanistan there are no mountain barriers to stop hot air from the deserts moving northwards when the weather patterns permit. This effect is even more pronounced in the Great Plains of North America where there are no mountain barriers from the subtropical Gulf of Mexico right up into Arctic Canada, thus allowing airmasses from either origin to flood north/south (and occasionally interacting, causing severe weather including tornadoes). 49C has been recorded in Steele, North Dakota at latitude 46N - exceeded by only four other states and beating famously hot states like Texas and Utah.

[Summer of 95]

Another mystery to me is how the west coast of North America at our latitude, though getting similarly dank winters, has a reliable summer dry season: Vancouver averages 270-290 hours sun and 30-50mm in July. The sunniest July on record here would be normal there. And the maritime climate is confined to the coastal strip. 

[johnholmes]

To answer your second question first. to an extent yes, partly due to the Rockies just inland and partly that it is on the edge of a very large land mass which also creates an influence, not unlike some western parts of France in the coastal strip there.

In your first question AC has already shown that Asia has a huge impact on the places you mention. All are fairly well inland and the huge land mass of Asia creates an enormous change in weather patterns over the 12 months. Intense cold in winter and intense heat in summer creating perhaps one of the worlds major weather patterns=the monsoons, dry or wet and winter and summer, even extending into the Med and having an impact on much of Europe. So yes looking at towns/cities at similar latitudes one has to take into account land masses and proximity of oceans.

hope that helps?

[Derp Patrol]

Thanks for the responses guys, I understand a bit more now.And I am shocked that Steele has recorded 49C so far north! I guess geography has much more imput into weather than I thought

[hillbilly]

unfortunately for us we just so happen to be  the first in the firing line of the atlantic weather systems,these dominate our weather and our better weather usually comes when something blocks these atlantic systems.i believe Norway has weather not too dissimilar to ours on the north sea fringes yet Sweden and finland have much better summers than we do and are more northerly.just depends on your position in relation to weather systems and not your latitude

[Summer of 95]

unfortunately for us we just so happen to be  the first in the firing line of the atlantic weather systems,these dominate our weather and our better weather usually comes when something blocks these atlantic systems.i believe Norway has weather not too dissimilar to ours on the north sea fringes yet Sweden and finland have much better summers than we do and are more northerly.just depends on your position in relation to weather systems and not your latitude

 

 

 

Denmark also seems to get a lot more sunshine in summer than Britain, yet is right in the firing line for stuff from the W/NW and has no mountains. Sometimes I think Britain's upland areas are just the wrong height; they're high enough to enhance precipitation and cloudiness, yet not high enough to completely kill weather systems and keep the downwind side reliably sunny and dry, as happens with the Rockies, Scandinavian mountains, Andes, Southern Alps of New Zealand.

 

It seems that once mountains reach 6000ft or so you can count on it being sunny downwind (eastern Scandinavia and New Zealand) above 10000ft you get desert there (the Americas and N of the Himalayas). While places exposed to weather systems yet completely below 1000ft do get the rain, but without the uplift it's not as heavy and there is less cloud away from the immediate vicinity of fronts. Examples are Denmark and the Baltic states, plus there's an isolated British example at Tiree- low lying and encountered by weather systems before the mainland, it can do well for sunshine in summer.

[GRHinPorts]

Another mystery to me is how the west coast of North America at our latitude, though getting similarly dank winters, has a reliable summer dry season: Vancouver averages 270-290 hours sun and 30-50mm in July. The sunniest July on record here would be normal there. And the maritime climate is confined to the coastal strip. 

This! This is what makes the British weather so frustrating. I would quite happily accept everything we have from September - May if we could only have the summers of the NW Pacific. 

 

Oh well maybe I should just move to Victoria, BC.