1. Climate Graphs

2. Climate graphs and their interpretation
By the end of today’s lesson you will:
know how to draw a climate graph;
be able to read a climate table and graph

3. Learning about Climate Graphs
Line graph for temperature
You must be able to describe climate graphs.
Precipitation
What is the yearly total?
Is it wet, dry or seasonal?
When is the highest and the lowest precipitation?
Temperature
Is it generally hot, cold or mild?
When is the lowest month and the highest?
What is the range of temperature (difference between high and low)?
Graph shows verhojansk russia, in Siberia. Why don’t we use rainfall? Because sometimes its not rain, its snow.
Bars show rainfall precipitation

4. Interpreting Climate Graphs
Where in the world is this?
What clues are there to help us figure out where this is?

5. Interpreting Climate Graphs
Where in the world is this? ,

6. Interpreting Climate Graphs
Where in the world is this?

7. Interpreting Climate Graphs
Where in the world is this? ,

8. The average temperature
The table below shows the climate data for Leeds in UK.
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Average monthly Rainfall (mm) 56 41 46 48 53 51 66
Average monthly Temperature (°C) 3 6 7 11 14 16 13 10 4
The average temperature
in March is 6°C
The average rainfall in
September is 51 mm
How would you calculate the total annual rainfall?
How would you calculate the average annual temperature?
How would you calculate the temperature range?

9. But how do you represent the data above in the form of a graph?
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Average monthly Rainfall (mm) 56 41 46 48 53 51 66
Average monthly Temperature (°C) 3 6 7 11 14 16 13 10 4
, UK
The red line is the average temperature
The blue bars show average rainfall

10. Once you have drawn a climate graph you need to be able to interpret (read) the graph.
The temperature peaks in July and August with an average of 16°C.
The wettest month is August when an average of 66 mm of rain falls ,
The maximum temperature is 16°C and the minimum is 3°C – a range of 13°C.
The maximum rainfall is 66 mm and the minimum is 41 mm – a range of 25 mm.
The coldest months are January and February with an average monthly temperature of 3°C.
The driest month is February when an average of 41 mm of rain falls.

11. Adding the Growing Season Line
The growing season lasts as long as the average temperature is above 6 Celsius
Growing Season Line

12. 9 Steps to a Perfect Climate Graph
Mark the months on the X axis (bottom)
Put a temperature scale on the left
Put a precipitation scale on the right
Label units of measure
Add blue bars showing precipitation
Connect temperatures with a red line
Add a green line at 6°C
Shade the Growing Season (above green, below the red line)
Add a title

13. Graph and guess where this is!

14. The Answer is….

15. Halifax