Subtropics

For information on the American literary journal, see Subtropics (journal).

Subtropical climate according to Troll and Paffen

Echo Park in Los Angeles, United States (North America)

Square in Las Palmas in Spain, European Union within Atlantic Ocean

Campo Grande Garden in Lisbon, Portugal, European Union (Europe)

Upper Barracca Gardens im Malta, European Union (centrally in the Mediterranean Sea, between Europe, Africa and Asia)

Parc de la Ligue Arabe in Casablanca, Morocco (Africa)

City Botanical Garden in Brisbane, Australia

The subtropics are the geographical and climatical zone of the Earth immediately north and south of the tropical zone, which is bounded by the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn, at latitudes 23.5°N and 23.5°S. The term "subtropical" describes the climatic region found adjacent to the tropics, usually between 20 and 40 degrees of latitude in both hemispheres.

Definition

According to climatologist Glenn G. Trewartha, a subtropical region should have at least eight months with a mean temperature of 10 °C (50.0 °F) or above. His revision of Köppen climate classification assigns to such areas the letter C, while others zones encompassed in the original Köppen group C class would be considered part of group.

American climatologist John F. Griffiths in his book Applied climatology described the subtropical zone as having a coldest month of between 6 °C (42.8 °F) and 18 °C (64.4 °F) and assigning to this group the letter B, while the original B group of Köppen taxonomy would be spread over the various temperature-based groups.

German climatologists Carl Troll and Karlheinz Paffen defined warmgemäßigte Zonen ("Warm temperate zones") plain and hilly lands having an average temperature of the coldest month between 2 °C (35.6 °F) and 13 °C (55.4 °F) in Northern Hemisphere and between 6 °C (42.8 °F) and 13 °C (55.4 °F) in Southern Hemisphere, excluding oceanic and continental climates.

Characteristics

In subtropical climates the winters are relatively warm, but not as hot as the summer season. These climates rarely—if ever—see frost or snow, and plants such as palm, citrus and many broadleaf evergreens flourish, in contrast to the hardier deciduous and coniferous trees which dominate midlatitude climates. As one moves toward the tropical side the slight winter cool season disappears altogether, while at the poleward threshold of the subtropics the winters become much cooler.

Rainfall patterns vary widely throughout the subtropics including hot deserts, savannas, monsoon forests, humid forests and the warmer parts of the Mediterranean climate zone. Subtropical regions include most of California and southern Europe (Mediterranean or dry-summer subtropical climate), the low deserts of the Southwest USA (hot arid type), the Gulf Coast and most of Florida (humid subtropical climate), northern India (monsoon), southeast China (humid), the middle part of South America (varied), much of Australia (varied) and coastal South Africa. Even the Isles of Scilly meet both requirements— 6 °C (42.8 °F) average in the coldest month and eight months with the average above 10 °C (50.0 °F) . Plymouth in Devon just meets the John F. Griffiths' requirement for a subtropical climate — average 3 °C (37.4 °F) min and 9 °C (48.2 °F) max in the coldest month.

Subtropical areas

Examples of subtropical cities and areas around the world include (see map above for more details):

In Africa

• North Africa: Algiers, Algeria; Alexandria, Egypt; Casablanca, Morocco; Tripoli, Libya; Tunis, Tunisia;
• Southern Africa: Cape Town, Durban and East London, South Africa; Maseru, Lesotho and Natal, South Africa.
• The part of Atlantic Ocean, areas on the islands of European Union around the coast of Africa: Las Palmas, Spain; Funchal, Portugal.

In The Americas

• The United States: Atlanta; Austin; Birmingham; Charleston, South Carolina; Charlotte; Dallas; Houston; Jacksonville, Florida; Las Vegas; Los Angeles; Little Rock; Memphis; Nashville; New Orleans; Norfolk, Virginia; Phoenix; Raleigh; Sacramento, California ;San Antonio; San Diego; San Jose; San Francisco Bay Area; Savannah; Tampa; and Tucson, Arizona

• Mexico: Monterrey, Hermosillo, Cd. Juárez, Tijuana.
• Brazil: São Paulo, Santa Catarina, Rio Grande do Sul, Paraná, Mato Grosso do Sul.
• Latin America: Buenos Aires, Argentina; Montevideo, Uruguay; Santiago, Chile; Valparaiso, Chile; Lima, Perú; and Asuncion, Paraguay.

In Eurasia

• Mainland China: Nanjing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Xiamen, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Nanning, Changsha, Wuhan, Chongqing, Chengdu
• Hong Kong
• Macau
• Taiwan: Taipei
• Japan: Shikoku, Kyushu, Okinawa, Western Honshu
• European Union: Inland areas around the Mediterranean Sea including a major part of the Iberian Peninsula, Apennine Peninsula and Balkan Peninsula. Major metropolises (urban area of range from 2.4 to 5.4 million people): Lisbon; Barcelona; Madrid; Rome; Naples; Milan; Athens. Some examples of other larger cities (urban area above 0.5 million people): Malaga; Valencia; Porto; Marseilles; Nice. Other places: Malta and Gibraltar with English as official language.
• Georgia: Batumi.
• India: Amritsar, and New Delhi.
• Russia: Sochi, Tuapse, Gelendzhik.
• Philippines: Baguio, Batanes.
• Turkey: Adana, Antalya, Izmir, Mersin.
• The Middle East: Iran, Persian Gulf; Baghdad, Iraq; Pakistan; Jerusalem, Israel; Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Tel Aviv, Israel; Beirut, Lebanon and Latakia, Syria.
• Vietnam: Hanoi, Hai Phong, Da Lat.

In Oceania

• Australia: New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia and parts of Victoria (Australia)
• New Zealand: Auckland, Northland, Coromandel, East Cape and Wellington.

Subtropical flora

• 
  Savannah, Georgia: Live oak with spanish moss. This is a typical scene in the subtropical region of the eastern and southern USA as far west as eastern Texas.
• 
  Curitiba: Live oak with araucarias. This is a typical scene in the subtropical region of the southern Brazil.

Charts of selected cities with subtropical climates

Los Angeles
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D     85     20 9     94     21 10     80     21 11     21     23 12     7.9     24 14     1.5     26 16     0.3     29 18     3.3     29 19     8.1     29 18     9.4     26 16     27     23 11     49     20 9 █ Average max. and min. temperatures in °C █ Precipitation totals in mm Source: NOAA
Imperial conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     3.3     68 49     3.7     70 50     3.1     70 52     0.8     73 54     0.3     74 58     0.1     80 61     0     84 65     0.1     85 66     0.3     83 65     0.4     79 60     1.1     73 53     1.9     69 48 █ Average max. and min. temperatures in °F █ Precipitation totals in inches

Atlanta
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D     128     11 1     119     14 3     137     18 6     92     23 10     100     27 15     92     30 20     130     32 21     93     31 21     104     28 18     79     23 12     104     17 6     97     13 2 █ Average max. and min. temperatures in °C █ Precipitation totals in mm Source: NOAA
Imperial conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     5     52 33     4.7     57 37     5.4     65 44     3.6     73 50     3.9     80 60     3.6     87 67     5.1     89 71     3.7     88 70     4.1     82 64     3.1     73 53     4.1     63 44     3.8     55 36 █ Average max. and min. temperatures in °F █ Precipitation totals in inches

Santiago de Chile
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D     0.4     30 13     0.8     29 12     3.2     27 11     10     23 8     42     19 6     70     15 4     87     14 2     52     16 4     22     19 6     13     22 8     9.2     25 10     2.1     28 12 █ Average max. and min. temperatures in °C █ Precipitation totals in mm Source: WMO
Imperial conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     0     85 55     0     84 54     0.1     80 51     0.4     74 46     1.7     66 43     2.8     59 39     3.4     56 35     2     61 38     0.9     66 43     0.5     72 47     0.4     78 50     0.1     83 54 █ Average max. and min. temperatures in °F █ Precipitation totals in inches

São Paulo
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D     239     27 19     217     28 19     160     27 18     76     25 16     74     23 14     56     22 12     44     22 12     39     23 13     81     24 14     124     25 15     146     26 17     201     26 18 █ Average max. and min. temperatures in °C █ Precipitation totals in mm Source: HKO
Imperial conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     9.4     81 66     8.5     82 66     6.3     81 65     3     77 61     2.9     73 57     2.2     71 54     1.7     71 53     1.5     74 55     3.2     75 57     4.9     77 60     5.7     79 62     7.9     79 64 █ Average max. and min. temperatures in °F █ Precipitation totals in inches

Rome
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D     103     12 3     99     13 4     68     15 5     65     18 8     48     23 11     34     27 15     23     30 17     33     30 18     68     27 15     94     22 11     130     16 7     111     13 4 █ Average max. and min. temperatures in °C █ Precipitation totals in mm Source: [1]
Imperial conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     4.1     53 37     3.9     55 38     2.7     59 41     2.6     65 46     1.9     73 52     1.3     81 58     0.9     87 63     1.3     87 64     2.7     80 59     3.7     71 51     5.1     61 44     4.4     55 39 █ Average max. and min. temperatures in °F █ Precipitation totals in inches

Cairo
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D     5     19 9     3.8     20 10     3.8     24 12     1.1     28 15     0.5     32 18     0.1     34 20     0     35 22     0     34 22     0     33 21     0.7     29 17     3.8     25 14     5.9     20 10 █ Average max. and min. temperatures in °C █ Precipitation totals in mm Source: WMO
Imperial conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     0.2     66 48     0.1     69 49     0.1     74 53     0     83 58     0     90 64     0     93 68     0     94 72     0     94 72     0     91 69     0     85 63     0.1     77 57     0.2     69 51 █ Average max. and min. temperatures in °F █ Precipitation totals in inches

Cape Town
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D     15     26 16     17     27 16     20     25 14     41     23 12     69     20 9     93     18 8     82     18 7     77     18 8     40     19 9     30     21 11     14     24 13     17     25 15 █ Average max. and min. temperatures in °C █ Precipitation totals in mm Source: HKO
Imperial conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     0.6     79 60     0.7     80 60     0.8     78 58     1.6     73 53     2.7     69 49     3.7     65 46     3.2     64 45     3     64 46     1.6     67 48     1.2     70 51     0.6     74 56     0.7     77 59 █ Average max. and min. temperatures in °F █ Precipitation totals in inches

New Delhi
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D     15     21 6     14     24 8     9.3     30 14     6.1     37 20     19     41 24     54     40 28     241     35 26     284     33 25     119     34 23     17     33 18     6.4     28 12     8.6     23 7 █ Average max. and min. temperatures in °C █ Precipitation totals in mm Source: IMD
Imperial conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     0.6     70 43     0.6     75 47     0.4     86 56     0.2     99 68     0.7     105 76     2.1     104 82     9.5     95 79     11     92 78     4.7     93 74     0.7     92 65     0.3     83 53     0.3     73 45 █ Average max. and min. temperatures in °F █ Precipitation totals in inches

Hong Kong
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D     25     19 14     52     19 14     71     22 17     189     25 21     330     28 24     388     30 26     374     31 27     445     31 26     288     30 26     152     28 23     35     24 19     35     20 16 █ Average max. and min. temperatures in °C █ Precipitation totals in mm Source: HKO
Imperial conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     1     65 57     2     65 58     2.8     71 62     7.4     77 69     13     83 75     15     87 79     15     88 80     18     88 80     11     86 78     6     82 74     1.4     75 67     1.4     69 60 █ Average max. and min. temperatures in °F █ Precipitation totals in inches

See also

• Humid subtropical climate
• Tropical rain forests
• Mediterranean climate
• Geographical zone

External links

• Study Shows Ocean “Deserts” are Expanding from NOAA, March 5, 2008
• Expanding tropics 'a threat to millions' from The Independent, Dec. 3, 2007