Climate in North America Use the words from the word bank to complete the test. From out over the the jet stream reaches the North American continent. Were it not for the Cordillera the chains of mountains ~the would shape the climate of half North America. Each of the three mountain ranges causes rainfall. The far-off plateaus and fon the other sides receive hardly any rain at all, they are in the . We're flying with the west winds over the Cordillera. That is the Pacific Coastal Range, the ‘Sierra Nevadas and the Rocky Mountains to the Great Plains. [...] Better dress to ride the waves in San Francisco. Even in September, the warmest month of the year. The California Current, a ocean current, cools the ocean and thus affects the climate here, Because of the rather cool it’s no place for sun bathing like elsewhere at the same Athens for example. In the mornings fog develops over the cold ocean, drifting to the coastal mountains and feeding dense Redwood trees grow here, reaching heights of _metres and. years in age. Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco are also hidden in fog each morning. But at 37° North the sun is an active force, quickly, the air and burning off the fog, Latitude, the Pacific Ocean and the west winds, they make the climate of San Francisco and Not unbearably hot in summer, -free in winter. A comfortable climate. A nice place to live, The Coastal Ranges act as a barrier to the west winds, forcing them to cool and release their mois- ture as orographic rainfall. As a result It rains, especialy in winter, on the side of this mountain range. On the other side of the Coastal Ranges, in the rain shadow, it stays ‘especially in summer. Barely 100 miles away from the coast, there is almost a Artificial has allowed farmers to turn California's Central Valley into one of the most productive regions in North America, Further to the east, the next mountain chain: the Sierra Nevada, the -covered mountains. Since the Sierra Nevada is higher than the Coastal Ranges, orographic rainfall occurs again and moisture is once again milked from the west winds. Snow and rain fall in great amount on the slopes, especially in winter. Water, vital not only for California's Central Valley but for San Francisco and Los Angeles, too. Giant Se~ ‘quoias grow in the warm and climate of the Sierra’s western slopes. 12 meters thick, meters high and 3,000 years old. [..] On the other side of the mountains, in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada, lies. adesert climate, less than __mm of precipitation a year on average. Some of the plants search downwards __ meters for water. Bad Water, 85 meters below sea level. It’s not only the lowest but also the place in North America. The record stands at__"C. Further to the east, 1000 miles, salt deserts, steppes, rocky plateaus, breath-taking Arrugged, bar- ren, infertile and sparsely populated area. All because of the climate.Then, almost in the middle of the continent, the the eastern most mountain range of the Cordillera. Orographic rainfall, again. That means, the Rockies rob the last drops of moisture from the west winds. Once again, an expansive mountain forest thrives. ‘And once again the land on the other side of the mountains i Rain shadow. The Great Plains, the wide open flatlands of the , once land of the buffalo, land of the Indians. Today, land of the white man, who grows _here. From Texas in the south to Canada in the north despite the fact that the average of the annual rainfall is less than _mm in the western plains. Farming with risks. A long drought once forced farmers out of here. That was in the 1930s. Ever since then the region's been called the The country is big and the climatic contrasts are extreme, especially in winter.__cold in the north, subtro- pical heat in the south. This climate zone isn’t divided by a mountain range, as Europe is by the Alps. That's why dry, cold Canadian air masses from the north can flow deep into the south, and the other way around ‘warm air from the Gulf pushes way up north. It happens very quickly and often. When extremely ‘warm and cold air masses collide, thunderstorms are often born and sometimes tal Late January, in Churchill, in the north of Manitoba, Canada, the weather reports warn of blizzards - and ternperatures of -42°.[..] Even in summer, only the upper layers of soil thaw, the lower The cold comes from America’s layers stay frozen solid, Hudson Bay, a sea of ice, 8 months a year. Cold air from Hudson Bay often blows south, deep into the continent, affecting the climate there. It's not until the middle of July that the metre-thick ice breaks up. [..] ‘A thousand kilometres south of Churchill t's no longer quite so cold, -25 to -35° C this January. Here forests grow again, northern coniferous forests. In the land of the great grey. in Manitoba's forests it’s harvest time, right now in winter. At this time of year the swamps and rivers are ‘The giant tractors can drive over them. [..] Pine Falls Paper Company manufactures newspaper for the Canadian and US markets. Same time of year 3000 kilometres further south and a good _* warmer. Not bad for the end of January here in Miami Beach, Florida, At25* North latitude the sun beats down even in winter. A climate zone. The Atlantic ‘coming in directly from the Gulf of Mexico heats up the air as well...) Word bank arctic Gulfstream rain shadow basins hottest rise Canadian humid Rocky Mountains canyons ice box sea breeze cold irrigation snow coniferous latitude snow storms Death Valley mild subtropical desert moderate tornadoes dry 2x moist warming Dust Bow! north-south warmly forests ‘orographic west frost Pacific Ocean western frozen over permafrost west winds Gulf prairie wheat