Blog 3

Meso & Micro Scales 

There are multiple meso-scale factors in play that shape Miami’s climate.  Most of them are due to the fact of Miami’s proximity to water and southerly geographic location, just above the Tropic of Cancer. One factor which helps moderate temperatures in Miami, and maintain the warm weather typical of South Florida is the Gulf Stream. The Gulf Stream begins right of the coast of Southern Florida. Sea surface temperatures influenceair temperature by the ocean exchanging heat with the above atmosphere. Moreover this causes the sea breeze, which helps further moderate Miami’s temperatures.

Source: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8jJQufM6h3hXvXMN-buo2VYAQSlyh5Q4nqxVvPs653oxb4PSiILNR1eG4AgnoxKif-TTTSNTK8xUdYz5SNQZqNbD0QKtcoy7vfv9qBElRrRnRt8f0oJCDAyi_CywxrzKb9wccKAXbhLM/s320/clim-mia.gif

As you can see from the above photo, warm ocean currents from the tropics go right bring warmer air to the eastern side of Florida, wherein Miami lies.  Moreover, Miami’s proximity to water and location in the tropics gives Miami large amounts of precipitation over a year, mostly coming during the late spring, summer and early autumn months. This is due to the intense solar radiation on the tropics during the Northern Hemisphere summer causing ocean heating and evaporation that leads to severe thunderstorms.

On the micro-scale level, the Miami experciences urban heat island effects raising the overall temperatures. Due to it's location between the Everglades on it's east and Biscayne Bay on it's right,  the urban area is very built up leading to it having one of the largest population densities in the U.S. 

source: http://www.demographia.com/db-ua2000r.htm

Temp Trends

The above graph from 1975- present illustrates that the Avg Max January Temp has not fluctuated much. 

Similarly the above graph also shows the Min has also stayed relatively the same for the month of January.

The above graph illustrates the avg max temp in July. The trend shows that temp has fluctuated but generally remained the same.

Source: http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KMIA/2012/7/14/MonthlyHistory.html?req_city=NA&req_state=NA&req_statename=NA

The graph for the min temp in July shows that temp raising slightly. This might be due to urban heat island as well as the intense solar radiation during summer months. 

Climaograph/ Classification

It's Koppen classification would be Am (tropical monsoon climate).

Source:http://people.cas.sc.edu/carbone/modules/mods4car/ccontrol/index.html

Source: Hydrology and Earth System Sciences: "Updated world map of the Köppen-Geiger climate classification" (Supplement) - Original file was a JPG-file, 

Although it’s hard to discern from the map, you can see the light blue shade used to characterized an Am climate is right on the tip of Southern Florida.