Continental Climate: Definition & Characteristics

Continental climate or land climate prevails in inner parts of continents and landmasses. This is mainly found in the middle and east of Asia, in Siberia and in central Russia. Summers are hot and winters are cold.

Continental climate – definition

Continental climate is also referred to as continental climate or land climate.

Climate is the average state of climatic elements, such as rain, wind, and air temperature, measured over a period of time at a specific location.

Continental climate describes the climate inside a continent or larger land masses, which heat up quickly in summer and cool down extremely in winter.

Continental climate characteristics

Continental climate can be recognized by various characteristics:

  • Cold winters and warm summers as the landmass warms up and cools down quickly.
  • Annual precipitation is less than 750 mm.
  • Most precipitation falls in summer.
  • Precipitation in winter mostly falls as snow.
  • The annual temperature fluctuates around 25° Celsius.
  • Strongly influenced by the seasons, spring and autumn are still very short.

Winters become colder and drier from west to east. The westerly winds have already rained down on their way to Eastern Europe and bring little moisture.

Difference between maritime and continental climate

Continental climate can be distinguished from maritime climate in many ways:

Continental climate

Maritime climate

  • Land climate, continental climate
  • year-round high rainfall
  • hot summers and cold winters
  • cool summers and mild winters
  • large temperature fluctuations throughout the year
  • small temperature fluctuations throughout the year

Continental climate in Europe

Continental climates are found in eastern Europe as the Atlantic coast is far away. For this reason, the climate is not so humid.

There are three climate zones (in Figure 1) in Europe:

  • the subpolar zone (grey),
  • the temperate zone (brown) and
  • the subtropical zone (yellow).

Figure 1: Climate zonesSource: pindactica.de

The subpolar zone

The sub-polar zone is located in northern Europe. Winters are long and summers are short. It is cool and dry all year round. In the warmest summer month, the average temperature rises to around 10°C. The annual average temperature is around 0°C.

Example region Moscow/Russia

In Figure 2 it can be seen that the average annual temperature in Moscow is 4.4°C. The winter months are very cold and the summer months are short and moderately warm. Total precipitation is just 575 mm.

Figure 2: Moscow/Russia climate diagram Source: wikipedia.org

The temperate zone

The temperate climate zone is between the 40th and 60th latitude. This zone is characterized by the four seasons. The average annual temperature in the temperate zone is between 7°C and 12°C. Temperatures fluctuate more than in the sub-polar zone.

The further inland you get into the temperate zone, the drier it gets. In Brest, France on the Atlantic Ocean, it rains a lot all year round because of the maritime climate there. In Siberia, far inland on the continent, it is much drier as rainfall decreases. The climate there is continental.

Example region Budapest/Hungary

The city of Budapest in Hungary (Figure 3) is located in the middle of the country – the climate here is continental. Budapest is also located in the temperate zone, so it also has a temperate continental climate. The average annual temperature is 11.2°C and the total rainfall is 630 mm. The temperature curve (red) shows that winters are cold and summers are hot. Between January and July there is a temperature difference of 21.1°C.

Figure 3: Budapest/Hungary climate diagram Source: wikipedia.org

The subtropical zone

The subtropical zone is located in southern Europe. Summers are warm and dry, winters are mild and rainy. Compared to the other two zones falls here however little rainfall. The average annual temperature is between 12° C and 24°C

Example region Madrid/Spain

In Madrid (Figure 4) the average annual temperature is 13.9° C. The winter months are wet (blue) and the summers are dry (yellow). Total precipitation is just 438 mm.

Figure 4: Madrid/Spain climate diagram Source: wikipedia.org

Climate zones according to Neef

Ernst Neef divided the earth into different climate zones (Figure 5). He distinguishes between different continental climates:

  • transitional climate (shown in green in Figure 5),
  • warm summer continental climate (shown in light green in Figure 5),
  • cool continental climate (Shown in light blue in Figure 5).

Figure 5: Climate zones according to Neef Source: docplayer.org

transitional climate

The transitional climate describes the Transition between the maritime climate of the western sides and the cool continental climate. It occurs only in Europe and only the east of this zone is continental in character. In the transitional climate regions, temperatures are moderate. There are slight fluctuations in the west and stronger fluctuations in the east. The highest temperature can be measured in summer. Precipitation falls all year round, but is slightly heavier in summer.

Summer warm continental climate

The summer-warm continental climate is characterized by warm temperate temperatures and strong temperature fluctuations between winter and summer. Summers are warm to hot and rainfall is low year-round.

Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have a warm summer continental climate.

Cool continental climate

The cool continental climate is characterized by moderately cool temperatures and strong to extreme temperature fluctuations between winter and summer. Precipitation falls all year round with a maximum in summer.

Finland and Russia have a cool continental climate.

Continental climate – the most important

  • Continental climate (continental climate, land climate) = the climate of the interior of a continent or landmass that is rapidly heated in summer and rapidly cooled in winter.
  • Cold winters and warm summers.
  • Annual rainfall below 750 mm.
  • Most precipitation in summer, in winter as snow.
  • Annual temperature varies 25°C
  • Strongly influenced by the seasons, short spring and autumn.
  • Continental climate: regions far from the sea with little rainfall, high temperature fluctuations and hot summers and cool winters.
  • Maritime climate: Regions close to the sea with high rainfall, low temperature fluctuations and cool summers as well as mild winters.
  • Climate in Europe divided into 3 zones: subpolar, temperate and subtropical.
  • Continental climate zones according to Neef: transitional climate, summer warm continental climate and cool continental climate.