Taiga is in Köppen's Dfc climate category. The D is a snow climate, while the f means there is enough precipitation in all months. The c means that fewer than 4 months have an average temperature over 50° F (10° C).
The taiga climate is for the most part dominated by cold arctic air. Exceptionally cold winds bring bitterly cold air from the Arctic Circle: the temperatures fall even more on clear nights when there is no cloud cover. Because of earth's tilt, the taiga is turned away from the sun in the winter. Less of the sun's radiation reaches the ground to warm it up.
Winter, with it's freezing cold temperatures, lasts for six to seven months. Summer is a rainy, hot and short season in the taiga. Fall is the shortest season for taiga. Spring brings flowers, the frozen ponds melt, and the animals come out from hibernation.
The lowest and highest temperatures that occur for taiga are the following:
The temperature range, as you can see, is -65° F to 70°F (-54 to 21° C). For half of the year, the average temperature is below freezing. In the winter the average air temperature is warmer than it is for tundra, which lies north of the taiga.
The taiga climate has an average annual rainfall of 12 - 33 inches (30 - 84 cm). Most of it falls in the summer as rain.
The corresponding biome would be the Taiga biome. The global range for taiga goes all around the world from Alaska, to Canada, Scandinavia, Russia and China. Taiga climate is only found in the northern hemisphere, because there isn't enough land mass in the southern hemisphere to create a taiga climate there.
2000
Bibliography:
"Taiga biome" http://www.ask.com
Kaplan, Elizabeth "Taiga" Tarrytown, New York. Marshall Cavendish corporation, 1996.
Encarta Encyclopedia, ed. 2000
The taiga is a moist
subarctic forest that begins where the Tundra ends. The
winters are long, dark and cold with lots of snow, and the
summers are warm and short when the daylight can be up to 20
hours long. The average climate for the taiga each year
falls below -32°F (0°C). The
taiga can be as low as -76°F (-60°C). In the summer
the temperature can reach as high as 104°F (40°C).
The major type of vegetation in the taiga biome are
coniferous evergreens. Needles on evergreen trees of the
taiga are thin, wax-covered and they do not fall off in the
fall. The conifers of the taiga keep their leaves all year
around. Needles are the leaves in the taiga biome. Conifers
are adapted to the taiga environment because they lose less
water and shed snow more easily because of their conical
shape. Some types of adaptations in the animals are
migration, heavier coats of fur, and some change color, such
as the snow-shoe rabbit. Mice and moles live in tunnels
under the snow. Some animals that live in the taiga are
bears, badger, beavers, reindeer, foxes, wolverine and
squirrels. Many birds migrate to the taiga during the spring
because there are so many insects to feed on after the snow
melts. The latitude range is approximately between
50°-60° North latitude.
The taiga climate under Köppen's classification system are Dfb and Dfc. The letters of the climate codes mean the following; D = snow climates, f = sufficient precipitation in all months, b = warmest month average under71.6°F (22°C) at least 4 months have an average of over 50°F (10°C), and c = Fewer than 4 months with average temperatures over 50°F (10°C).
The average temperature per year is 32°F (0°C) The average temperature for the summer can be over 50°F (10°C). The average winter temperature is under 26.6°F (-3°C). The highest temperature for the taiga biome has been 104°F (40°C). I guess it would be an uncomfortable place for humans to live in. However, millions of people live there.
The average precipitation
per year is about 40 inches. The average precipitation for
the summer is between 10-20 inches. The average
precipitation for the winter is between 20-40 inches. The
type of precipitation that falls in the taiga climate are
rain in summer and
mostly snow in winter.
Something I find interesting about the climate of this biome is that the temperature can change from one extreme to another. I didn't think that a place farther north from us could have higher temperatures then we do.
By Harold Pilskan, 2001
bibliography:
Quayl,L. (1999) Weather. New York, NY: Crescent Books. (1987). World Atlas. New York, NY Rand McNally and Company. (1976)
Compton's Encyclopedia. Chicago IL: Comptons Company. (1993)
Merriem Webster's Collegiate Dictionary Springfield MA: Merriam Bebster Incorporated.