Alpine climate

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White Mountain, an alpine environment at 4,300 metres (14,000 ft) in California

For the climate of the mountains named the Alps, see Climate of the Alps.

Alpine climate is the average weather (climate) for a region above the tree line. The climate becomes colder at high elevations—this characteristic is described by the lapse rate of air: air tends to get colder as it rises, since it expands. The dry adiabatic lapse rate is 10 °C per km of elevation or altitude. Therefore, moving up 100 meters on a mountain is roughly equivalent to moving 80 kilometers (45 miles or 0.75° of latitude) towards the pole.^[1] This relationship is only approximate, however, since local factors such as proximity to oceans can drastically modify the climate.

In mountainous areas with alpine climate, the dominant biome is alpine tundra.

The alpine climate is considered part of Group E in the Köppen climate classification, along with the polar climate.

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