Hot Desert Biome PDF

Climate of Hot Desert Biome The climate of the hot desert biome is arid, experiencing high temperatures and little to no precipitation. Summer temperatures exceed 40 degrees during the day before dropping to 15 degrees at night. In winter daytime temperatures are 25 degrees but fall near 0 degrees a...

Climate of Hot Desert Biome The climate of the hot desert biome is arid, experiencing high temperatures and little to no precipitation. Summer temperatures exceed 40 degrees during the day before dropping to 15 degrees at night. In winter daytime temperatures are 25 degrees but fall near 0 degrees at night. The direct angle of the sun means sun rays are concentrated over a small area leading to very high ground temperatures. As the soil has little to no vegetation cover, the ground absorbs all of this heat which radiates up from the ground leading to high atmospheric temperatures. Once the sun sets the lack of cloud cover allows heat to decrease rapidly, leading to the high diurnal range we see in these regions. Very little rainfall between 0 to 250 mm per year. Rainfall is not evenly spread and occurs in short torrential downpours that are quickly evaporated by the heat of the sun. Low rainfall levels caused by the rain shadow effect occur in the western edges of continents leading to drier inland conditions. As moisture laden winds are carried over coastal mountain ranges, the cool air condenses leading to rainfall on the windward side.Once precipitation has occurred the air is much drier inland leading to deserts such as the Sahara becoming increasingly dry. High pressure belts at 15 to 30 degrees latitude cause low levels of rainfall as dry cold air blows across the desert.