Asia is the largest continent in the world. Due to its large size and extensive area covering from north to south and from east to west, there is a great variety of climates. The climates of Asia can be broadly divided into the following types:

The Equatorial Climate

This climate is found in areas located very close to the equator. The climate is hot and humid all year round with excessive rainfall. There is no dry season and precipitation is distributed equally in all months of the year. This type of climate is also known as the three-eighties climate, i.e. 80 F (27 C) year-round temperature, 80 inches (2000 mm) or more total annual precipitation, and 80% relative humidity throughout the year. This type of climate is found in Indonesia and Malaysia.

monsoon climates

This type has a definite dry season and a definite wet season. The cooler season is dry, while the hot season is very humid. The best example is the monsoon of the Indian subcontinent. Mumbai, for example, records more than 2,000 mm (80 inches) of rain in a year, but the months of December to February are absolutely dry. During the summer season, hot and humid winds blow from the Indian Ocean towards India and bring heavy rain. In the cooler months, the wind direction is from land to sea, so the winds are drier and bring little or no rain. China also experiences this type of weather, but the temperatures are cooler than the Indian monsoon, so it is called the China type of monsoon.

desert climates

These types of climates are found in Central Asia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, northwestern India, and southeastern Pakistan. Although Central Asian deserts such as the Gobi and Taklamakan are outside the tropics, the excessive heat they face in summer makes them similar to deserts in lower latitudes. All deserts have the same characteristic features: very little rainfall and extreme temperatures. Precipitation is generally less than 10 inches (250 mm). The difference between the hottest month and the coldest is great. At Luktchun 43 N 90 E in Central Asia, the average temperature of the warmest month is 90 F (32.2 C), which is fairly consistent with tropical deserts, but the coldest month registers 13 F (-10.6 C). C), which is unthinkable in the hottest deserts located in Arabia. etc.

Mid-latitude grassland climates

This type of climate is found in western Central Asia, where Asia meets Europe in the Ural Mountains and on the outskirts of Mongolia. The summers are hot, the winters cold with moderate rainfall that falls mainly in the summer months. Summer temperatures generally do not exceed 75 F (23 C), but winters are quite cold with two to three months below 32 F (0 C).

cold temperate climate

This type of climate is found in higher latitudes, typically above 50 degrees north, and has moderate to cool summers and very cold winters. Since this area is very far from the nearby sea, it has extreme temperatures. The weather is so extreme that these types of extremes are not found anywhere else in the world. A typical example of this type of climate is Verkoyansk in Siberia, which is located at 68 degrees North and 133 East. The temperature for the month of July in this season is 60 F (16 C), while the temperature for January is -58 F (-50 C), a range of 118 F! Precipitation is moderate at 14.7 inches (373 mm) and occurs primarily in the form of snow.

arctic or tundra climate

This type of climate occurs in the extreme north of the continent near the North Pole. The weather is extremely cold year-round with no month exceeding 43 F (6 C), so no planting or vegetation can survive. Only Eskimos who have adapted to this kind of harsh climate can survive in this climate zone. They have a special kind of houses made of snow called igloos locally to keep them warm.

Mediterranean climate

This type of climate with hot, dry summers and cold, wet winters occurs in Turkey, Syria, and along the coastal areas of Israel and Lebanon. Istanbul in Turkey is the best example. The warmest month registers 74 F (23 C), the coldest 43 (6 C). Total annual precipitation is 29 inches (736 mm), of which 20 inches occurs from November to March, and the summers are very dry.

This in summary is a brief detail of the different climatic zones found in the Asian continent.