Oceanic Climate - Locations

Locations

Ireland and Great Britain experience a typically maritime climate, with prevailing south-westerly winds from the Atlantic Ocean. The annual average temperature range in the British Isles is only about 14 °C (25 °F). Although the west coast of Alaska experiences a maritime climate, the absence of an equally significant warm Pacific current in the upper-mid latitudes means that these regions are generally colder in winter, with more precipitation falling as snow. The oceanic climate is prevalent in a good portion of western Europe and the European part of northern Turkey.

The oceanic climate exists in an arc spreading across the north-western coast of North America from the Alaskan panhandle to northern California, in general the coastal areas of the Pacific Northwest. It includes the western parts of Washington and Oregon, the Alaskan panhandle, western portions of British Columbia, and north-western California. A significant portion of oceanic climate exhibited in North America features a drying trend in the summer, thus falling under the dry-summer subcategory explained below.

The only noteworthy area of Maritime Climate at or near sea-level within Africa is in South Africa from Mossel Bay on the Western Cape coast to Plettenberg Bay, with additional pockets of this climate inland of the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal coast. Interior southern Africa, elevated portions of eastern Africa, and Mozambique also share this climate type. It is usually warm most of the year with no pronounced rainy season, but slightly more rain in autumn and spring. The only significant areas where this climate is found at or near sea level in Asia is on the Black Sea coast in northern Turkey, in small pockets along or near the Caspian Sea in Azerbaijan and in small pockets along or near the Tsugaru Strait in northern Japan. The oceanic climate is prevalent in the more southerly locations of Oceania. A mild Maritime climate is in existence in New Zealand. In Australia, the island of Tasmania, southern parts of Victoria and New South Wales, also exhibit a mild Maritime climate. It can also be found along the western areas of the south coast of Western Australia. The oceanic climate is found in isolated pockets in South America. It exists in southeast-central and southwest Argentina and southern Chile.

Under Koeppen-Geiger, many areas generally considered to have Oceanic climates are classified as cool summer, dry-summer subtropical (Csb) climates. These areas are not usually associated with a typical Mediterranean climate, and include much of the Pacific Northwest, southern Chile, parts of southeastern-central Argentina, and northwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Many of these areas would be classified as Cfb climates, except dry-summer patterns meet Koeppen's Cs thresholds, and cities such as Concepción, Chile; Seattle, Washington; Portland, Oregon; and Victoria, British Columbia can be classified as Csb.

All mid-latitude oceanic climates are classified as humid. However, some rainshadow climates feature thermal régimes similar to those of oceanic climates but with steppe-like (BSk) or even desert-like (BWk) scarcity of precipitation. Despite the oceanic-like thermal regimes, these areas are generally classified as mild steppe or desert climates. This milder version of steppe and desert climates are found in Washington and Oregon to the east of the Cascade Range in the United States, Patagonia in southern Argentina, the Atacama Desert in northern Chile and coastal areas in the southeastern portion of Western Australia.