Environmental Studies Of The States Climate - Essay Example

The monthly temperature ranges from 91.5°F to 30.0°F. Snow fall is a rare phenomenon and the highest record is only 13 inches on March 12-13, 1993 at Birmingham. Tornados and hurricanes are very common around Birmingham and Mobile due to turbulent wind patterns. Hurricanes of wind speeds 145mph caused the worst tornado disaster the Dixie Tornado outbreak in April 27, 2011 in which 50 tornados claimed more than 238 lives. Alaska The state Alaska is known for its high snow falls but is also hot in the summer.

The highest mean annual temperature is 51.4°F recorded at Annette, AP and the lowest average annual temperature is 0.9°F recorded at Umiat. The mean annual rainfall is the highest at Whitter at 185.2 inches and the most snowfall occurs in the month of January at Valdez WSO as much as 65.1 inches with a snow depth of 31 inches. The extreme northern part of Alaska is Arctic with long and very cold winters and there is snow almost year around here. The wind speeds at the costal parts of the Gulf of Alaska are as high as 40 to 45 kmph and major natural disasters in Alaska are due to storms.

Arizona The climatic conditions in this state are dry with little rainfall. The highest temperature recorded was 128°F at Lake Havasu City, 1994 and the lowest temperature recorded was -40°F at Hawley Lake, 1971. The average annual maximum temperature is 76.3°F recorded at Lake Havasu City and the lowest is 38.3°F at Sunrise Mountain. The highest average annual precipitation is at Hawley Lake 38.2 inches, and the lowest is 2.67 inches. The highest average annual snowfall is at Sunrise Mountain recorded as 243 inches.

The state is more prone to storms and there are large temperature swings between the day and the night temperatures due to the dry climatic conditions relevant in the state. Arkansas Due to the location close to the Gulf of Mexico, Arkansas has a humid subtropical climate. The lowest temperature was recorded at Pond in 1905 as –29°F and a record high of 120°F was recorded on 1936 at Ozark. Average yearly precipitation is approximately 45 inches in the mountainous areas and greater in the lowlands; for example Little Rock received an annual average of 50.9 inches. Snowfall in the capital averages 5.

2 inches a year and the northern part of the state gets more snowfall during the winter. The state is prone to natural disasters like thunderstorms, hails, snow storms and ice storms. A tornado with wind speeds as high as 180 to 200 mph damaged Atkins where 12 people were killed. California Most of the areas in the state of California have a Mediterranean climate, while some have a subarctic climate that is colder winters and hotter summers. The maximum average yearly temperature was recorded as 91°F at Death Valley.

The lowest average annual temperature was recorded at Squaw Valley Lodge as 27.3°F. The mean rainfall was recorded the highest at 104.2 inches at Honey Dew and the lowest was recorded at 2.7 inches at Brawley. Snowfall is nil at most areas and the highest snowfall of 287.7 inches was recorded at Big Ben Ranger Station. The wind speeds range from 4.5 mph to 13.3 mph. Flood due to heavy rain, tornados, thunder storms and firestorms are common in this state.