varying climatic conditions of Australia

Due to its vast size, Australia is one landmass that experiences diverse weather and seasons. The temperatures range from the extreme heat of the Kimberly region, to the extreme cold and below zero temperatures of the snowy mountains of the Southern Australia. This mass of land has no single season of the year but there exist six different climatic zones with two main seasonal patterns. In Australia, there exists summer/Autumn/Winter/spring weather patterns in the temperate lands, in the grassland climatic zones, the desert, as well as a dry/wet pattern in the tropical North which covers the tropical, sub-tropical and equatorial zones (Australian Information Stories, 2016).

The climatic zones in Australia are such that there is the temperate zones and tropical zones. The temperate zones stretch mainly along the coastal hinterland of New South Wales, along the South-Easters corner and south-west pars of west Australia. In these temperate zones, summer comes in December to February, Autumn comes in March to May, Winter in June to August and lastly Spring in September to November (Australian Government, 2017).

On the other hand, the tropical zones of Australia host three climatic zones. There is the equatorial which covers the tip of Cape York. Then there is the tropical which cover the Northern Australia and the south of the Gulf of Carpentaria and Kimberly region. Then there is the sub-tropical which covers the coastal and inland fringe from the Queensland region to the Perth region all the way to Western Australia.

Due to these diverse tropical zones, Australia has the wet and dry seasons as well. The wet seasons run for around six months between November and March. These wet seasons are often hotter than the dry season (temperatures between 30 to 50 degrees Celsius) due to the high humidity during the wet season caused by large amounts of water in the air. This season is characterized by a lot of rain and frequent flooding.

On the other hand, the dry season is also found in Australia and lasts about six months as well, normally from April to October. This time comes with generally lower temperatures of around 20 degrees Celsius.

The other interesting fact about Australia is the fact that some regions enjoy relative normal weather patterns, yet some regions have extreme weather experiences. The tropics are some of the regions that are significantly affected by the extremes of cyclones, especially in the wet seasons, yet the inland deserts can remain totally dry for years and when it rains there are floods. There are around six cyclones every year in Australia and they are considered tropical weather that happen between November and April experienced in the North of the country (Wells K., 2013).

Form the above, it is clear that Australia is one landmass that experiences not only extremes of weather patterns, but also hosts different seasons and displays significantly varied geographical makeup, with deserts and snow regions existing in the same land, plain lands to the coastal lines and also playing host to deserts and at the same time wet lands.

Reference

Australian Information Stories, (2016). Climate of Australia Australian Weather Guide. Retrieved May 21, 2017 from www.australian-information-stories.com/climate-of-australia.html

Australian Government, (2017). Australian climate zones. Retrieved May 21, 2017 from http://www.yourhome.gov.au/introduction/australian-climate-zones

Wells K., (2013). Australian weather and seasons -- a variety of climates. Retrieved May 21, 2017 from http://www.australia.gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/austn-weather-and-the-seasons