Post by Crunch41 on Aug 31, 2019 21:31:53 GMT -5
These two continental desert climates are extremely similar. Similar temperatures, similar rainfall total, and both are close to mountains. Which one do you prefer?
Ashgabat: 38N, 200m elevation, located near the Kopet Dag mountains that reach 3200m. Ashgabat on Wikipedia.
St. George: 37N, 900m elevation, near the Pine Valley Mountains that reach 3200m. St. George on Wikipedia.
Ashgabat has many more precipitation and snowfall days, but the threshold is probably different between the two places. The rainfall pattern is a bit different as well. Ashgabat is as dry as a Mediterranean climate in summer, but with a spring peak characteristic of inland climates. St. George has relatively wet winters, unusual for inland north America. The beginning of summer is very dry, then it has a weak summer monsoon similar to places in Arizona. St. George averages between 3200 and 3400 hours based on a map, so by international standards it should be around 3000, still higher than Ashgabat. I have no idea which place would see more storms. If you want lots of storms, this is not the place.
Both cities are D climates, too hot and dry for me. I prefer
Ashgabat. It has a slightly colder winter, lower sunshine, and I think it would feel slightly wetter due to the winter and spring wet period. St. George reached -11F twice in January 1937. That month averaged 33/11F, with the warmest day reaching just 45. Unfortunately it saw only 1.5 inches of snow, despite six days with measurable snowfall and 1.83" of total precipitation. The snowiest day was 0.3 inches, which probably melted fast. It can occasionally get a few inches of snow in a day, but not every year. I did not look up Ashgabat historical data, I assume it gets occasional cold and snow just like St. George.
