Find out what climate you live in by the Koppen classification

As you already know, weather and climate are two different but related things. The first is the state of the atmosphere here and now, and the second is its average values over decades. In turn, the climate is also not a uniform phenomenon, it is different in this or that part of the planet. In a nutshell, this is why it is always hot in Africa, cold in the Arctic, and in temperate latitudes we see and experience the whole range of weather phenomena. Koppen climate classification is used to classify various climate types. In this article, we will understand what they are and how to read them.

What is the Koppen climate classification system?

Koppen climate classification is the oldest, most widespread, and hence the basic system of classification of all the huge variety of climate types, which was first introduced in 1884 and is still in use today. The system was invented by Wladimir Köppen, one of the world’s foremost meteorologists and scientists of German origin — hence the unusual surname in the name of the system, which is exactly spelled with two superscript characters. It is based on the scientist’s knowledge and observations of what plants grow in a particular region of the world depending on its longitude and latitude. So this is a Koppen climate classification explanation in short.

How to read the Koppen climate classification map?

The most convenient and frequent form of representation of Koppen climate classification is a map of the world with the same name, colored in different colors corresponding to a particular type of climate, which in turn are denoted by a combination of the letters. In total, the classification divides the climate into 30 types marked in lower and upper case letters — for example, BSh, Dwa, and the like, at the sight of which the first question arises: What the hell is this and how do I remember it? Calm down. All of these types of climate are grouped into only five large groups, so to explain them, let's go the other way around — from the simple to the complex things.

The Koppen climate classification map identifies tropical climate (A), dry climate (B), temperate or mild climate (C), continental climate (D), and polar climate (E). Important: as you can see, the letters are just the first five letters of the Latin alphabet, not the first letters in the names of the climate types. From the names, it is also easy to understand what features each of them has. However, here is a brief deciphering:

Tropical climate is the hottest parts of the world around the equator, where the weather is always hot and humid, and hardly changes throughout the year
Dry climate is all arid desert and steppe world's areas, where the weather is also hot, but there is little moisture compared to the previous one
Temperate or mild climate is generally characterized by the most diverse weather in temperate latitudes, covering most of the planet, so it is probably also your climate type
Continental climate has the same characteristics and the same prevalence, but toward colder weather as we move northward or inland from the seas
Arctic climate is the northernmost (and conversely, southernmost) areas of the world with the coldest weather, where snow lies most of the time

You see, under general consideration, it's very simple with the climate on the planet. But given that it is very diverse and does not fit into just five types, further each of these groups is divided into several subgroups or subtypes, which, in turn, are divided into several more — in the four types of climate except the first, tropical, which is characterized by less weather diversity. In particular, here is their complete list taken from the Koppen climate classification map:

Koppen climate classification map / Wikipedia

Tropical climate (A) — 3 main subtypes with 2 additional in the latter, 4 in total

Tropical rainforest climate (Af)
Tropical monsoon climate (Am)
Tropical savanna climate with dry winter (Aw) or dry summer (As)

Dry climate (B) — 2 main subtypes with 2 additional in each, 6 in total

Dry arid climate with hot (BWh) or cold (BWk) weather
Dry semi-arid or steppe climate with hot (BSh) or cold (BSk) weather

Temperate or mild climate (C) — 3 main subtypes with 3 additional in each, 9 in total

Temperate climate with dry and hot (Csa) or warm (Csb), or cold summer (Csc)
Temperate climate with dry winter and hot (Dwa) or warm (Dwb), or cold summer (Dwc)
Temperate climate with no dry season and hot (Cfa) or warm (Cfb), or cold summer (Cfc)

Continental climate (D) — 3 main subtypes with 4 additional in each, 12 in total

Continental climate with dry and hot (Dsa) or warm (Dsb), or cold summer (Dsc), or very cold winter (Dsd)
Continental climate with dry winter and hot (Dwa) or warm (Dwb), or cold summer (Dwc), or very cold winter (Dwd)
Continental climate with no dry season with hot (Dfa) or warm (Dfb), or cold summer (Dfc), or very cold winter (Dfd)

Polar climate (E) — 2 main subtypes

Polar tundra climate (ET)
Polar ice cap climate (EF)

Koppen climate classification map. Valerya Milovanova / Windy.app

Well, I hope that looks complete. Again, notice the capital letters (not lowercase letters) in dry and polar climates. They speak of the higher level of these types about the others.

So where does this diversity come from? Each of these types is characterized by a different set of weather phenomena typical of the area but first, as you can see yourself from the chart above, these are temperature of certain values and amount of precipitation. For example, in a tropical climate, it is 18 °C (64.4 °F) or higher on average with heavy precipitation, and in the Arctic, it is 10 °C (50 °F) with dry weather. However, we will omit them in this article as listing them would take too much time.

To answer the question in the title of the article, translating the Koppen climate classification into the language of geography and outdoor spots is also quite a lengthy task, but here are the largest cities in the 20+ major parts of the world with their respective climate types. Just find the one you live in or come from and you will know it for sure. To get the weather forecast for these cities, follow the links. For other places, refer to the map above and then seach them on this site.

North America's Alaska: Anchorage, USA — continental climate with no dry season and cold summer (Dfc)
North America's New England: New York, USA — humid subtropical climate (Cfa)
North America's California: Los Angeles, USA — temperate climate with dry and hot summer (Csa)
Central America: Panama City, Panama — tropical savanna climate with dry winter (Aw)
South America's Amazon: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil — tropical savanna climate with dry winter (Aw)
South America's Patagonia: Ushuaia, Argentina — polar tundra climate (ET)
South America's Ands: Cusco, Peru — temperate climate with dry winter and warm summer (Dwb)
Western Europe: Paris, France — temperate climate with no dry season and warm summer (Cfb)
North Europe (Scandinavia): Oslo, Norway — continental climate with no dry season and warm summer (Dfb)
Souther Europe: Athens, Greece — temperate climate with dry and hot summer (Csa)
Eastern Europe: Moscow, Russia — continental climate with no dry season and warm summer (Dfb)
Northen Africa: Cairo, Egypt — arid climate (BW)
Western Africa: Lagos, Nigeria — tropical savanna climate (AW)
Southern Africa: Cape Town, South Africa — temperate climate with warm summer (Csb)
Middle East: Dubai, the United Arab Emirates — arid climate (BW)
Caucasus (Europe/Asia): Tbilisi, Georgia — temperate climate with no dry season and with hot summer (Cfa)
Central Asia: Almaty, Kazakhstan — continental climate with no dry season and hot summer (Dfa)
Himalaya: Lhasa, Tibet — temperate climate with dry winter and warm summer (Dwb)
North Asia (Siberia): Irkutsk, Russia — temperate climate with dry winter and warm summer (Dwb)
South Asia: Mumbai, India — tropical savanna climate with dry winter (Aw)
East Asia: Beijing, China — continental climate with dry winter and hot summer (Dwa)
South-east Asia: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia — tropical rainforest climate (Af)
Australia: Sydney, Australia — humid subtropical climate (Cfa)
Oceania: Suva, Fiji — tropical rainforest climate (Af)

As you can also see from this list the climate can and is the same according to the Köppen climate classification not only in parts of the world close to each other but also very far apart ones, located on opposite sides of the globe. For example, the temperate climate with dry and hot summer (Csa) is the same for Los Angeles, USA, as for Athens, Greece, or the temperate climate with dry winter and warm summer (Dwb) is the same for Cusco, Peru, as for Irkutsk, Russia. We can likely find the same climate as your region in another part of the world and make other similar discoveries by examining the different types of climate on the map.

Where to get the Koppen climate classification?

You can find a detailed map of Koppen climate classification in various meteorological and scientific sources. Tip: Choose only official ones like the National Weather Service in the US.

In the Windy.app for sports and outdoor weather forecasts, you can explore the climate in a special Weather History (Weather Archive) section, which you can access from the screen of each spot. To do this, scroll down it.

Weather History in the Windy.app for iOS

Here you can find accurate weather data for four basic parameters — temperature, precipitation, wind, and atmospheric values for each day for the last 10 years (2012–2021) as well as averages for each month, year, and the entire observation period.

Detailed Weather History in the Windy.app for iOS

Weather History in the Windy.app for iOS

The wind history is also separately and conveniently presented on the Weather Map.

Wind History Map in the Windy.app for iOS

In addition, to understand the climate of a particular region even more accurately, go to a chat on the spot in the Community section of the app to ask about it from the locals, who know the weather in their home regions as good as professional meteorologists. In addition, they will explain it in simple words like "Hey, from March to April on this part of the coast is a terrible wind, so to ride a kite, you better come in June to September". And things like that. More: so you can even find a companion for your sport if you're around too.