Understanding Spain’s Climate: Factors and Regional Variations
Factors Determining Spain’s Climate
The climate of a particular place is determined by numerous factors, such as the Earth’s translational motion and rotation, creating seasons, days, and nights. Geographical and thermodynamic factors also contribute to climate variations. Geographical factors include altitude, latitude, the influence of the sea, and relief.
- Altitude: Higher altitudes experience lower temperatures, with a decrease of approximately 0.6°C for every 100 meters.
- Latitude: Sunlight affects different latitudes due to the angle of incidence. Spain’s location on the southern edge of the temperate zone results in four distinct seasons.
- Influence of the Sea: The sea has a thermoregulatory effect, taking longer to cool than to warm. The Gulf of Mexico’s warm ocean current influences the Iberian Peninsula, bringing moisture to the coast.
- Relief: High relief areas can cause the Foehn effect, where air masses rise, cool, and precipitate on one side, leaving dry air on the other.
Thermodynamic factors include general atmospheric circulation, action centers, and the polar front. The jet stream, a high-altitude wind, influences weather patterns by creating areas of high and low pressure.
Action Centers Affecting Spain
- Azores Anticyclone: Provides stable, good weather, especially in summer.
- Saharan Anticyclone: Brings stable, dry weather from continental Africa.
- Scandinavian Anticyclone: Contributes to stable, sunny, but cold weather due to its polar origin.
- European Anticyclone: Forms in central Europe due to distance from the sea, causing temperature fluctuations.
- Meseteño Anticyclone: Similar to the European anticyclone, but forms in the interior of Spain.
- Iceland Storm: Brings rain and low temperatures from the North Atlantic.
- Gulf of Genoa Storm: Forms in late summer due to Mediterranean warming, affecting the eastern peninsula.
- Convective Storms: Summer storms caused by rapid heating, potentially leading to heavy rainfall if combined with the jet stream.
- Gulf of Cadiz Storm: Forms seasonally with the retreat of the Azores anticyclone.
- Polar Front: A rain front created where cold currents meet, causing precipitation.
Climatic Regions of Spain
Atlantic (Oceanic) Climate
Affects the Cantabrian coast with mild winters, cool summers, and an average temperature of 15°C. High annual rainfall (over 1600mm) is distributed throughout the year.
Mediterranean Coastal Climate
Characterized by mild winters, hot summers, and moderate rainfall (around 600mm) concentrated around the equinoxes.
Mediterranean Climate (Inland)
Affects the northern and southern sub-plateaus, Ebro Valley, and Guadalquivir Valley. Features large temperature variations and varying rainfall patterns, with some areas experiencing drought.
Subregions:
- Northern Sub-Plateau: Extreme temperatures, average rainfall of 500mm, and two months of drought.
- Southern Sub-Plateau: Warmer winters, very hot summers, and up to four months of drought.
- Ebro Valley: Cold winters, hot summers, and dry conditions due to distance from the sea.
- Guadalquivir Valley: Mild winters, very high summer temperatures (up to 48°C), and annual rainfall of 650mm.
Arid Mediterranean Climate
Found in Murcia and Almeria, with very hot summers and winters, high temperature variations, and minimal rainfall (200mm), resulting in 10 months of drought.
Canary Islands Climate
Varies across the islands, including oceanic, Canarian, and arid desert types. Summers are hot, winters are mild, and rainfall averages around 500mm, influenced by trade winds and topography.
Mountain Climate
Occurs in areas above 1000m altitude, with temperatures decreasing with elevation. Winters are very cold, summers are mild, and rainfall exceeds 1000mm, distributed evenly throughout the year.