Oceanic Climate

An Oceanic climate (also known as Marine, West Coast and Maritime) is the climate typical of the west coasts at the middle latitudes of most continents, and generally features warm, but not hot summers and cool, but not cold winters, and a relatively narrow annual temperature range. It typically lacks a dry season, as precipitation is more evenly dispersed throughout the year. It is the predominant climate type across much of Europe, coastal northwestern North America, portions of southwestern South America and small areas of Africa, southeast Australia, New Zealand, as well as isolated locations elsewhere.

Under the Köppen climate classification, the typical zone associated with the Oceanic climate is Cfb, although it includes subtropical highland zones not usually associated with marine climates. Often, parts of the Csb Mediterranean or Dry-Summer subtropical zones are not associated with a typical Mediterranean climate, and would be classified as Temperate Oceanic (Cfb), except dry-summer patterns meet Koeppen's minimum Cs thresholds. Other climate classification systems, such as Trewartha, place these areas firmly in the Oceanic zone (Do).