Desert Climate - Cold Desert Climates

Cold Desert Climates

This variant of the desert climate is somewhat rare outside of Asia. A cold desert climate is typically found in temperate zones, almost always in the rain shadow of high mountains which restrict precipitation from the westerly winds, or in the case of Central Asia, from the monsoon. The Gobi desert in Mongolia is a classic example of a region with a cold desert climate. Though hot in summer, it shares the very cold winters of the rest of Central Asia. The Kyzyl Kum and Taklamakan deserts of Central Asia and the drier portions of the Great Basin Desert of the western United States are other major examples of BWk climates. The Ladakh region, lying in the Great Himalayas in India also has a cold desert climate.

Cold desert climates can feature hot (sometimes exceptionally hot) and dry summers, though summers typically are not quite as hot as summers in hot desert climates. Unlike hot desert climates, cold desert climates usually feature cold, sometimes brutally cold, dry winters with temperatures far below the freezing point. Cold deserts are typically found at higher altitudes than hot desert climates, and are usually drier than hot desert climates.

Arctic and Antarctic regions also receive very little precipitation during the year, owing to the exceptionally cold dry air, but they are generally classified as having polar climates.