A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between
latitudes 25° and 40° and are located poleward from adjacent tropical climates. It is also known as warm temperate climate in some climate classifications.
Under the
Köppen climate classification, ''Cfa'' and ''Cwa'' climates are either described as humid subtropical climates or warm temperate climates. This climate features mean temperature in the coldest month between (or ) and and mean temperature in the warmest month or higher. However, while some climatologists have opted to describe this climate type as a "humid subtropical climate", Köppen himself never used this term. The humid subtropical climate classification was officially created under the
Trewartha climate classification. In this classification, climates are termed humid subtropical when they have at least 8 months with a mean temperature above .
While many subtropical climates tend to be located at or near coastal locations, in some cases, they extend inland, most notably in
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
and the
United States, where they exhibit more pronounced seasonal variations and sharper contrasts between summer and winter, as part of a gradient between the hotter tropical climates of the southern coasts and the colder continental climates to the north and further inland. As such, the climate can be said to exhibit somewhat different features depending on whether it is found inland, or in a maritime position.
Characteristics
In a humid subtropical climate, summers are typically long, hot and humid. Monthly mean summer temperatures are normally between . A deep current of tropical air dominates the humid subtropics at the time of high sun, and daily intense (but brief) convective thundershowers are common. Summer high temperatures are typically in the high 20s to mid-30s °C (80s or 90s °F), while overnight lows in the summer are typically in the lower 20s °C (70s °F). Monthly mean temperatures in winter are often mild, typically averaging . Daytime highs in winter normally are in the range, while overnight lows are from , though the poleward boundaries of this climate feature colder temperatures, possibly below freezing.
Rainfall often shows a summer peak especially where
monsoons are well developed, as in
Southeast Asia and
South Asia. Other areas have a more uniform or varying rainfall cycles but consistently lack any predictably dry summer months unlike
mediterranean climates
A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...
. Most summer rainfall occurs during
thunderstorms that build up due to the intense surface heating and strong subtropical sun angle. Weak
tropical lows that move in from adjacent warm tropical oceans, as well as infrequent tropical storms often contribute to summer seasonal rainfall peaks. Winter rainfall is often associated with large storms in the
westerlies that have fronts that reach down into subtropical latitudes. However, many subtropical climates such as southeast Asia and Florida in the United States have very dry winters, with frequent brush fires and water shortages.
Under the
Holdridge life zones classification, the subtropical climates have a biotemperature between the frost or critical temperature line, (depending on locations in the world) and , and these climates are humid (or even perhumid or superhumid) when the
potential evapotranspiration (PET) ratio (= PET / Precipitation) is less than 1. In the Holdridge classification, the humid subtropical climates coincide more or less with the warmest ''Cfa'' and ''Cwa'' climates and the less warm humid tropical "Köppen" climates (''Aw'', ''Am'' and ''Af'').
Breakdown of letters
''Cfa'': ''C'' = Mild temperate ''f'' = Fully humid ''a'' = Hot Summer
''Cwa'': ''C'' = Mild temperate ''w'' = Dry Winter ''a'' = Hot Summer
Locations
Africa
In Africa, humid subtropical climates are primarily found in the southern part of the continent. The ''Cwa'' climate is found over a large portion of the interior of the
Middle
Middle or The Middle may refer to:
* Centre (geometry), the point equally distant from the outer limits.
Places
* Middle (sheading), a subdivision of the Isle of Man
* Middle Bay (disambiguation)
* Middle Brook (disambiguation)
* Middle Creek (d ...
and
Eastern African
East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa:
Due to the histor ...
regions. This area includes central
Angola
, national_anthem = "Angola Avante"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capital = Luanda
, religion =
, religion_year = 2020
, religion_ref =
, coordina ...
, northeastern
Zimbabwe, the
Niassa
Niassa is a province of Mozambique. It has an area of 129,056 km2 and a population of 1,810,794 (2017). It is the most sparsely populated province in the country. Lichinga is the capital of the province. There are a minimum estimated 450,000 ...
,
Manica and
Tete provinces of
Mozambique, the southern
Congo
Congo or The Congo may refer to either of two countries that border the Congo River in central Africa:
* Democratic Republic of the Congo, the larger country to the southeast, capital Kinshasa, formerly known as Zaire, sometimes referred to a ...
provinces, southwest
Tanzania, and the majority of
Malawi, and
Zambia. Some lower portions of the
Ethiopian Highlands also have this climate.
The climate is also found in the narrow coastal sections of southern and eastern
South Africa, primarily in
KwaZulu-Natal
KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is locate ...
and the
Eastern Cape
The Eastern Cape is one of the provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are East London and Gqeberha.
The second largest province in the country (at 168,966 km2) after Northern Cape, it was formed in 1994 ...
provinces. South Africa's version of this climate features heavy oceanic influences resulting in generally milder temperatures. This is particularly evident in its winters when temperatures do not drop as low as in many other regions within the humid subtropical category.
Asia
East Asia
In
East Asia, this climate type is found in the southeastern quarter of
mainland China from Hong Kong north to Nanjing, the northern half of
Taiwan, north through southern and central Japan (
Kyushu
is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surroun ...
,
Shikoku and half of
Honshu), and the most southern regions of Korea (the south coast and
Jeju island). Cities near the equatorward boundary of this zone include
Hong Kong and
Taipei; while
Tokyo,
Busan
Busan (), officially known as is South Korea's most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.4 million inhabitants. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southeastern South Korea ...
and
Qingdao
Qingdao (, also spelled Tsingtao; , Mandarin: ) is a major city in eastern Shandong Province. The city's name in Chinese characters literally means " azure island". Located on China's Yellow Sea coast, it is a major nodal city of the One Belt ...
are near the northern boundary.
The influence of the strong
Siberian anticyclone in East Asia brings colder winter temperatures than in the humid subtropical zones in North America, South America, and Australia. The isotherm reaches as far south as the valleys of the
Yellow and
Wei
Wei or WEI may refer to:
States
* Wey (state) (衛, 1040–209 BC), Wei in pinyin, but spelled Wey to distinguish from the bigger Wei of the Warring States
* Wei (state) (魏, 403–225 BC), one of the seven major states of the Warring States per ...
rivers, roughly
latitude 34° N. At
Hainan Island and in Taiwan, the climate transitions from subtropical into tropical. In most of this region, the winter monsoon is very well developed, as such eastern Asian humid subtropical zones have a strong winter dry season and heavy summer rainfall.
Only in inland areas below the Yangtze River and coastal areas between approximately the
Huai River and the beginning of the coast of
Guangdong is there sufficient winter rainfall to produce a ''Cfa'' climate; even in these areas, rainfall and
streamflow display a highly pronounced summer peak, unlike other regions of this climate type.
Drought can be severe and often catastrophic to agriculture in the ''Cwa'' zone.
The only area where winter precipitation equals or even exceeds the summer rain is around the
San'in region at the western coast of Japan, which during winter is on the windward side of the westerlies. The winter precipitation in these regions is usually produced by low-pressure systems off the east coast that develop in the onshore flow from the Siberian high. Summer rainfall comes from the East Asian Monsoon and from frequent
typhoons. Annual rainfall is generally over , and in areas below the Himalayas can be much higher still.
Southeast Asia
In
Southeast Asia, about 90% of the region has a
tropical climate. But humid subtropical climates can also be seen in most of Northern Myanmar and Northern Laos; and in entire
Northern Vietnam, including
Hanoi.
Southeast Asian locations with these climates can feature cool temperatures, with lows reaching during the months of December, January, and February. Unlike a good portion of East Asian locations with this climate however, most of Southeast Asia seldom experiences snowfall. These areas tend to feature hot and humid summers and cool and wet winters, with mean temperatures varying between 25 to 30 °C (77 to 86 °F) in summer.
South Asia
Humid subtropical climates can also be found in
South Asia. However, the
humid subtropical climates exhibited here typically differ markedly from those in
East Asia (and for that matter a good portion of the globe). Winters here are typically mild, dry and relatively short. They also tend to be foggy. Summers tend to be long and very hot, starting from mid-April and peaking in May and early June with high temperatures often exceeding . They also tend to be extremely dry, complete with
dust storms, traits usually associated with
arid
A region is arid when it severely lacks available water, to the extent of hindering or preventing the growth and development of plant and animal life. Regions with arid climates tend to lack vegetation and are called xeric or desertic. Most ...
or
semi-arid climates. During this period many native trees defoliate to save water. This is followed by the cooler
monsoons, where the region experiences heavy rains on almost a daily basis. Average high temperatures decrease during the monsoon season, but humidity increases. This results in hot and humid conditions, similar to summers in other humid subtropical climates. Cities such as
New Delhi,
Lucknow,
Kanpur
Kanpur or Cawnpore ( /kɑːnˈpʊər/ pronunciation (help·info)) is an industrial city in the central-western part of the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. Founded in 1207, Kanpur became one of the most important commercial and military stations o ...
and
Patna exhibit this atypical version of the climate in India. In Pakistan, the twin cities of
Islamabad and
Rawalpindi
Rawalpindi ( or ; Urdu, ) is a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad, and third largest in Punjab after Lahore and Faisalabad. Rawalpindi is next to Pakistan's ...
, as well as the city of
Swabi
Swabi ( ps, صوابۍ; ur, ) is a city in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan,[Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million pe ...](_blank)
, cities like
Rangpur,
Saidpur and
Dinajpur in
northern region features the monsoon variant (''Cwa''), where rainfall peaks at the monsoon season. Like neighboring
Northern Indian plains, this region also shows a distinct three season pattern- relatively dry and very hot summer (March- early june), extremely wet, cooler
Monsoon seson (June- September), and mild, foggy winter and autumn (Late October- February)
Humid subtropical climates can also be found in
Nepal. However the Nepalese version of the climate generally do not feature the extreme hot spells that are commonplace for many other South Asian locations with this climate. In Nepal cities such as
Kathmandu,
Pokhara
Pokhara ( ne, पोखरा, ) is a metropolis, metropolitan city in Nepal, which serves as the capital of Gandaki Province. It is the List of cities in Nepal, second most populous city of Nepal after Kathmandu, with 518,452 inhabitants living ...
,
Butwal,
Birgunj and
Biratnagar feature this iteration of the climate.
In South Asia, humid subtropical climates generally border on continental climates as altitude increases, or on winter-rainfall climates in western areas of Pakistan and northwestern India (e.g.
Peshawar in northwestern Pakistan or
Srinagar
Srinagar (English: , ) is the largest city and the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It lies in the Kashmir Valley on the banks of the Jhelum River, a tributary of the Indus, and Dal and Anchar lakes. The city is known for its natu ...
in the
Kashmir Valley
The Kashmir Valley, also known as the ''Vale of Kashmir'', is an intermontane valley concentrated in the Kashmir Division of the Indian- union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The valley is bounded on the southwest by the Pir Panjal Range and ...
in India, where the primary precipitation peak occurs in March, not July or August). Further east, in highland areas with lengthier monsoons such as Nepal, seasonal temperature variation is lower than in the lowlands.
Western Asia
Although humid subtropical climates in Asia are mostly confined to the southeastern quarter of the continent, there are two narrow areas along the coast of the
Caspian Sea
The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the List of lakes by area, world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad s ...
and
Black Sea with humid subtropical climates. Summers in these locations are cooler than typical humid subtropical climates and snowfall in winter is relatively common, but is usually of a short duration.
In
Western Asia, the climate is prevalent in the
Gilan,
Māzandarān and
Golestan Provinces of
Iran, in parts of the
Caucasus, in
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...
and in
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to t ...
wedged between the
Caspian Caspian can refer to:
*The Caspian Sea
*The Caspian Depression, surrounding the northern part of the Caspian Sea
*The Caspians, the ancient people living near the Caspian Sea
* Caspian languages, collection of languages and dialects of Caspian p ...
and
Black
Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ha ...
seas and coastal (
Black Sea) Turkey, albeit having more oceanic influence.
Annual rainfall ranges from around at
Sari to over at
Bandar-e Anzali, and is heavy throughout the year, with a maximum in October or November when Bandar-e Anzali can average 400 millimetres (16 inches). Temperatures are generally moderate in comparison with other parts of Western Asia. During winter, the coastal areas can receive snowfall, which is usually of a short duration.
In
Rasht, the average maximum in July is around but with near-saturation
humidity, whilst in January it is around . The heavy, evenly distributed rainfall extends north into the Caspian coastal strip of
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...
up to its northern border but this climate in Azerbaijan is, however, a ''Cfb''/''Cfa'' (''Oceanic climate''/''Humid subtropical climate'') borderline case.
Western
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to t ...
(
Batumi and
Kutaisi
Kutaisi (, ka, ქუთაისი ) is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world and the third-most populous city in Georgia, traditionally, second in importance, after the capital city of Tbilisi. Situated west of Tbilis ...
) in the
Kolkheti Lowland and the northeast coast of
Turkey (
Giresun
Giresun (), formerly Cerasus (Ancient Greek: Κερασοῦς, Greek: Κερασούντα), is the provincial capital of Giresun Province in the Black Sea Region of northeastern Turkey, about west of the city of Trabzon.
Etymology
Giresun wa ...
), have a climate similar to that of Gilan and Mazandaran in Iran and very similar to that of southeastern and northern Azerbaijan. Temperatures range from in summer to in winter and rainfall is even heavier than in Caspian Iran, up to per year in
Hopa (Turkey). These climates are a ''Cfb''/''Cfa'' (''Oceanic climate''/''Humid subtropical climate'') borderline case.
North America
In North America, humid subtropical climates are found in the American Gulf and lower East Coast states, including
Texas,
Oklahoma
Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...
,
Louisiana,
Arkansas
Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the ...
,
Alabama
(We dare defend our rights)
, anthem = " Alabama"
, image_map = Alabama in United States.svg
, seat = Montgomery
, LargestCity = Huntsville
, LargestCounty = Baldwin County
, LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham
, area_total_km2 = 135,7 ...
,
Mississippi,
Tennessee,
North Carolina,
South Carolina,
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to t ...
, and
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, a ...
. On the Florida peninsula, the humid subtropical climate gives way to the
tropical climate of
South Florida
South Florida is the southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the other two are Central Florida and North Florida. South Florida is the southernmost part of th ...
and the
Florida Keys
The Florida Keys are a coral cay archipelago located off the southern coast of Florida, forming the southernmost part of the continental United States. They begin at the southeastern coast of the Florida peninsula, about south of Miami, and e ...
.
Under Köppen's climate classification, this zone includes locations further north, primarily
Virginia,
Kentucky, the lower elevations of
West Virginia,
Maryland,
Delaware
Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacen ...
,
Washington, D.C.,
New Jersey, southeastern
Pennsylvania, most of
Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...
, and extreme southern
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
around
New York City and sections of
Long Island
Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...
. It can also be found in the lower Midwest, primarily in the central and southern portions of
Kansas and
Missouri, and the far southern portions of
Illinois,
Indiana and
Ohio.
In
Mexico, there are small areas of ''Cfa'' and ''Cwa'' climates. The climate can be found in small areas scattered around the northeastern part of the country, in proximity to the
Gulf of Mexico. Other areas where the climate can be found is in the high elevations of Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt and Sierra Madre Oriental. Despite being located at higher elevations, these locations have summers that are too warm to qualify as a subtropical highland climate.
Guadalajara
Guadalajara ( , ) is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the list of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629 people, making it the 7th largest city by population in Me ...
's climate is a major example of this.
Outside of isolated sections of Mexico, the southernmost limits of this climate zone in
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
lie just north of South Florida and around southern coastal Texas. Cities at the southernmost limits, such as Tampa and Orlando and along the Texas coast around
Corpus Christi down toward
Brownsville generally feature warm weather year-round and minimal temperature differences between seasons. In contrast, cities at the northernmost limits of the climate zone such as New York, Philadelphia and
Louisville feature hot, humid summers and chilly winters. These areas have average winter temperatures at the coldest limit of climates classed as humid subtropical.
Snowfall
Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes.
It consists of frozen crystalline water throughout ...
varies greatly in this climate zone. In locations at the southern limits of this zone and areas around the Gulf Coast, cities such as Orlando, Tampa, Houston, New Orleans, and Savannah rarely see snowfall, which occurs, at most, a few times per generation. In Southern cities farther north or inland, such as Atlanta, Georgia, Atlanta, Birmingham, Alabama, Birmingham, Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte, Dallas, Texas, Dallas, Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis, Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, and Raleigh, North Carolina, Raleigh, snow only occasionally falls and is usually three inches or less. However, for the majority of the winter here, temperatures remain above or well above freezing.
At the northernmost limits of this zone, cities such as New York City, Philadelphia, and Baltimore typically see snowfall during the winter, with occasional heavy snowstorms. Still, average temperatures during a typical winter hover just above freezing at these locations.
Precipitation is plentiful in the humid subtropical climate zone in North America – but with significant variations in terms of wettest/driest months and seasons. Much of the interior South, including Tennessee, Kentucky, and the northern halves of Mississippi and Alabama, tends to have a winter or spring (not summer) precipitation maximum. Closer to the South Atlantic and Gulf coasts, there is a summer maximum, with July or August usually the wettest month – as at Norfolk, Cape Hatteras and Jacksonville, North Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, Mobile, Alabama and New Orleans. A semblance of a monsoon pattern (dry winters/wet summers) is evident along the Atlantic coast from southern North Carolina (Wilmington, North Carolina area) south to Florida. The seasonal monsoon is much stronger on the Florida peninsula, as most locations in Florida have dry winters and wet summers.
In addition, areas in Texas that are slightly inland from the Gulf of Mexico, such as Austin and San Antonio that border the
semi-arid climate zone, generally see a peak of precipitation in May, a drought-like nadir in mid-summer and a secondary, if not equal, precipitation peak in September or October. Areas further south along South Texas' Gulf Coast (Brownsville), which closely border Tropical climate, tropical climate classification, typically have a strong September precipitation maximum, and a tendency toward dry conditions in winter with rain increasing in spring, with December or January often the driest months.
South America
Humid subtropical climates are found in a sizable portion of South America. The climate extends over a few states of southern Brazil, including Paraná (state), Paraná, into sections of Paraguay, all of Uruguay and central Argentina (Pampas region). Major cities such as São Paulo, Buenos Aires, Porto Alegre and Montevideo, have a humid subtropical climate, generally in the form of hot and humid summers, and mild to cool winters. These areas, which include the Pampas, generally feature a ''Cfa'' climate categorization. At 38th parallel south, 38°S, the Argentine city of Bahía Blanca lies on the southern limit of the humid subtropical zone.
The ''Cwa'' climate occurs in parts of tropical highlands of São Paulo (state), São Paulo state, Mato Grosso do Sul and near the Andean highland in northwestern Argentina. These highland areas feature summer temperatures that are warm enough to fall outside the subtropical highland climate category.
Australia
The humid subtropical climate zone predominantly lies in eastern Australia, which begins from the coastal strip of Mackay, Queensland and stretches down to the southern coast of Sydney, where it transitions into the cooler, oceanic climates.
From Newcastle, New South Wales, Newcastle, approximately northeast of Sydney, the ''Cfa'' zone would extend to inland New South Wales, excluding the highland regions (which have an oceanic climate), stretching towards Dubbo to the northwest and Wagga Wagga to the south, ending at the New South Wales/Victoria (Australia), Victoria border (Albury–Wodonga).
To note, these places would have characteristics of the semi-arid and/or Mediterranean climates. Furthermore, the inland ''Cfa'' climates generally have drier summers, or at least summers with low humidity.
Extreme heat is more often experienced in Sydney than in other large cities in Australia's ''Cfa'' zone, especially in the Greater Western Sydney, western suburbs, where highs over are not uncommon. Frost is prevalent in the more inland areas of Sydney, such as Richmond, New South Wales, Richmond. Average annual rainfall in the Sydney region ranges between .
There is usually a distinct summer rainfall maximum that becomes more pronounced moving northwards. In Brisbane, the wettest month (February) receives five times the rainfall of the driest month (September). Temperatures are very warm to hot but are not excessive: the average maximum in February is usually around and in July around . Frosts are extremely rare except at higher elevations, but temperatures over are not common on the coast.
North of the ''Cfa'' climate zone there is a zone centred upon Rockhampton which extends north to the Köppen ''Cwa'' classified climate zone of the Atherton Tablelands region. This region has a very pronounced dry winter period, with often negligible rainfall between June and October. Winter temperatures generally only fall slightly below , which would classify the region as a tropical savanna, or ''Aw'', climate.
Annual rainfall within Australia's humid subtropical climate zone can reach as high as in coastal locations and is generally or above. The most intense 2-3 day rainfall periods that occur in this coastal zone however are the outcome of Australian east coast low, east coast lows forming to the north of a anticyclone, large high pressure system, there can be great variation in rainfall amounts from year to year as a result of these systems. As an example Lismore, New South Wales, Lismore which lies in the centre of this zone, the annual rainfall can range from less than in 1915 to more than in 1950.
Europe
As the continent does not have a large ocean to its east as the case in many other continents within the climate zone, humid subtropical climate in Europe is limited to relatively small areas on the margins of the Mediterranean and Black Sea basins. ''Cfa'' zones are generally transitional between the Mediterranean climate zones along the coast and oceanic and humid continental zones to the west and north where rainfall in the warmer months is too high for a Mediterranean classification, while temperatures (either in the summer and/or winter) are too warm to qualify as oceanic or humid continental. Humidity is not as high here as in other continents within this climatic zone.
The Po Valley, in Northern Italy, including major cities such as Milan, Turin, Bologna, and Verona, has a humid subtropical climate, featuring hot, humid summers with frequent thunderstorms; winters are foggy, damp and chilly, with sudden bursts of frost. Some parts of the valley have a mild continental climate. Places along the shores of Lake Maggiore, Lake Lugano, Lake Como (Como and Verbania in Italy and Lugano in Switzerland) have a humid subtropical climate with a distinctive high amount of rainfall during summer. Due to recent warming, cities in the Pannonian Basin such as Belgrade, Novi Sad and Budapest, Hungary, are now just warm enough to be categorized as such. At 47th parallel north, 47°N, Budapest lies on the northern limit of the humid subtropical zone.
The coastal areas in the northern half of the Adriatic Sea also fall within this climate zone. The cities include Trieste, Venice, and Rimini in Italy, Rijeka and Split, Croatia, Split in Croatia, Koper in Slovenia and Kotor in Montenegro. Other Southern European areas in the ''Cfa'' zone include the central valleys and coast of Catalonia of Girona and Barcelona in Spain, some on the north-east of Spain (Huesca), West Macedonia in Greece (Kozani), the Garonne, Garonne Valley (Toulouse) and Rhone, Rhone Valley (Valence (city), Valence) in France.
Along the
Black Sea coast of Bulgaria (Varna, Bulgaria, Varna), coast of Romania (Constanta and Mamaia), Sochi, Russia and Crimea, have summers too warm (> in the warmest month) to qualify as oceanic, no freezing month, and enough summer precipitation and sometimes humid conditions, where they would be fit to be classed under ''Cfa'', though they closely border the Humid continental climate, humid continental zone. All these areas are subject to occasional, in some cases repeated snowfalls and freezes during winter.
In Central Europe, a small area of humid subtropical climates are located in transitional areas between the oceanic and continental climates in areas where higher summer temperature do not quite qualify it for inclusion in the Oceanic climate schema (but, in the
Trewartha climate classification, this type of climate is included in that typical of the other areas of central-west Europe, classified as Do -the Temperate Oceanic climate-) and mild winters do not allow their inclusion into continental climates. Average summer temperatures in areas of Europe with this climate are generally not as hot as most other subtropical zones around the world.
In the Azores, some islands have this climate, with very mild and rainy winters (>) and no snowfall, warm summers (>) but with no dry season during the warmest period, which means that they can neither be classified as oceanic climate, oceanic, nor as Mediterranean climate, Mediterranean, only as humid subtropical, as with Corvo Island.
In many other climate classification systems outside of the Köppen, most of these locations would not be included in the humid subtropical grouping. The higher summer precipitation and poleward flow of tropical air-masses in summer are not present in Europe as they are in eastern Australia or the southern United States.
See also
*Subtropics
*Subtropical ridge
*List of locations with a subtropical climate
References
{{Koppen
Köppen climate types