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68-497: Tōkamachi is located in an inland region of southwest Niigata Prefecture. Parts of the city are within the borders of the Jōshin'etsu-kōgen National Park . Tōkamachi has a Humid continental climate ( Köppen Dfa ) characterized by warm, wet summers and cold winters with heavy snowfall. The average annual temperature in Tōkamachi is 11.8 °C (53.2 °F). The average annual rainfall

136-685: A Csa climate well inland to ensure hot summers and cold winters. They are generally found in the highly elevated areas of south-eastern Turkey ( Hakkâri ), north-western Iran, northern Iraq, parts of Central Asia , parts of the High Atlas mountain range in central Morocco and very small parts of the Intermountain West in the United States. This climate zone does not exist at all in the Southern Hemisphere, where

204-465: A barrier for cloud patterns. This causes a great deal of the built up precipitation to drop on the city. The Tōkamachi area receives the most snow of any area on the main island of Honshu . Per Japanese census data, the population of Tōkamachi has declined steadily over the past 50 years. The area of present-day Tōkamachi was part of ancient Echigo Province , and was part of the tenryō territories held directly by then Tokugawa shogunate . Following

272-614: A classification). More extreme and inland humid continental climates, sometimes known as "hyper-continental" climates, are found in northeast China , southern Siberia , Mongolia , Kazakhstan , most of the southern interior of Canada , and the Upper Midwest , where temperatures in the winter resemble those of adjacent subarctic climates (with long, drier, generally very cold winters) but have longer and generally warmer summers (in occasional cases, hot summers). A more moderate variety, found in places like Honshu , east-central China,

340-609: A dry-climate area unsuitable at that time for the growth of bamboo. The invention of thermometers and barometers during the Scientific Revolution allowed for systematic recordkeeping, that began as early as 1640–1642 in England. Early climate researchers include Edmund Halley , who published a map of the trade winds in 1686 after a voyage to the southern hemisphere. Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790) first mapped

408-411: A few decades to as long as millions of years. The climate system receives nearly all of its energy from the sun. The climate system also gives off energy to outer space . The balance of incoming and outgoing energy, and the passage of the energy through the climate system, determines Earth's energy budget . When the incoming energy is greater than the outgoing energy, earth's energy budget is positive and

476-485: A generalized, overall description of the atmosphere or ocean which can be used to characterize the factors which effect the global climate system. El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is a coupled ocean-atmosphere phenomenon in the Pacific Ocean responsible for much of the global variability of temperature, and has a cycle between two and seven years. The North Atlantic oscillation is a mode of variability that

544-413: A global network of thermometers , to prehistoric ice extracted from glaciers . As measuring technology changes over time, records of data often cannot be compared directly. As cities are generally warmer than the areas surrounding, urbanization has made it necessary to constantly correct data for this urban heat island effect. Climate models use quantitative methods to simulate the interactions of

612-516: A marked reduction in wintry precipitation, which increases the chances of a wintertime drought ( w ). Snowfall occurs in all areas with a humid continental climate and in many such places is more common than rain during the height of winter. In places with sufficient wintertime precipitation, the snow cover is often deep. Most summer rainfall occurs during thunderstorms , and in North America and Asia an occasional tropical cyclone (or

680-411: A period of at least 30 years. Climate concerns the atmospheric condition during an extended to indefinite period of time; weather is the condition of the atmosphere during a relative brief period of time. The main topics of research are the study of climate variability , mechanisms of climate changes and modern climate change . This topic of study is regarded as part of the atmospheric sciences and

748-739: A subarctic climate. In the Southern Hemisphere , it exists in well-defined areas only in the Southern Alps of New Zealand , in the Snowy Mountains of Australia in Kiandra, New South Wales and the Andes Mountains of Argentina and Chile . Since climate regimes tend to be dominated by vegetation of one region with relatively homogenous ecology, those that project climate change remap their results in

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816-495: A subdivision of physical geography , which is one of the Earth sciences . Climatology includes some aspects of oceanography and biogeochemistry . The main methods employed by climatologists are the analysis of observations and modelling of the physical processes that determine climate. Short term weather forecasting can be interpreted in terms of knowledge of longer-term phenomena of climate, for instance climatic cycles such as

884-526: A thermal profile, but because of semi-arid precipitation portions of it are grouped into the BSk category. In Europe , it is found in much of Central Europe : Germany (in the east and southeast part of the country), Austria (generally below 700 m (2,297 ft)), Poland , Czech Republic , Slovakia , Hungary (generally above 100 m (328 ft)), Croatia (mostly Slavonia region), in much of Eastern Europe : Ukraine (the whole country except

952-409: A year. Another major variable of climate is continentality: the distance to major water bodies such as oceans . Oceans act as a moderating factor, so that land close to it has typically less difference of temperature between winter and summer than areas further from it. The atmosphere interacts with other parts of the climate system , with winds generating ocean currents that transport heat around

1020-714: Is 2,537.0 mm (99.88 in) with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 24.9 °C (76.8 °F), and lowest in January, at around −0.1 °C (31.8 °F). Because Tōkamachi lies in a valley, wind patterns bring in clouds from both the Sea of Japan as well as the Pacific Ocean . The mountains surrounding the city (though not terribly high in altitude) act as any other mountains that affect rain and snow patterns providing

1088-447: Is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold (sometimes severely cold in the northern areas) and snowy winters. Precipitation is usually distributed throughout the year, but often these regions do have dry seasons. The definition of this climate in terms of temperature

1156-442: Is as follows: the mean temperature of the coldest month must be below 0 °C (32.0 °F) or −3 °C (26.6 °F) depending on the isotherm, and there must be at least four months whose mean temperatures are at or above 10 °C (50 °F). In addition, the location in question must not be semi-arid or arid . The cooler Dfb , Dwb , and Dsb subtypes are also known as hemiboreal climates. Although amount of snowfall

1224-521: Is found in northern Kazakhstan , southern Siberia , parts of Mongolia , northern China , and highland elevations in the Koreas . Like its hot-summer counterpart, these climates are typically dry in the winter and bitterly cold due to the Siberian High (often with winter temperatures comparable to their nearby subarctic climates ), while summers are warm and long enough to avoid classification as

1292-467: Is less extreme than the most inland hyper-continental variety. Using the Köppen climate classification , a climate is classified as humid continental when the temperature of the coldest month is below 0 °C [32.0 °F] or −3 °C [26.6 °F] and there must be at least four months whose mean temperatures are at or above 10 °C (50 °F). These temperatures were not arbitrary. In Europe,

1360-565: Is less seasonally uniform in the west. The western states of the western United States (namely Montana , Wyoming , parts of southern Idaho , most of Lincoln County in Eastern Washington , parts of Colorado , parts of Utah , isolated parts of northern New Mexico , western Nebraska , and parts of western North and South Dakota ) have thermal regimes which fit the Dfa climate type, but are quite dry, and are generally grouped with

1428-630: Is mainly contained to the lower atmosphere, the troposphere . The layer of atmosphere above, the stratosphere is also capable of creating its own variability, most importantly the Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO), which has a cycle of approximately 30 to 60 days. The Interdecadal Pacific oscillation can create changes in the Pacific Ocean and lower atmosphere on decadal time scales. Climate change occurs when changes of Earth's climate system result in new weather patterns that remain for an extended period of time. This duration of time can be as brief as

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1496-404: Is not a factor used in defining the humid continental climate, snow during the winter in this type of climate is almost a guarantee, either intermittently throughout the winter months near the poleward or coastal margins, or persistently throughout the winter months elsewhere in the climate zone. Humid continental climates are generally found between latitudes 40° N and 60° N , within

1564-724: Is noted during the autumn of deciduous forests. In the poleward direction, these climates transition into subarctic climates featuring short summers (and usually very cold winters) allowing only conifer trees. Moving equatorword, the hot-summer continental climates grade into humid subtropical climates (chiefly in North America and Asia) while the warm-summer continental climates grade into oceanic climates (chiefly in Europe), both of which have milder winters where average temperatures stay above 0°C (or -3°C). Some continental climates with lower precipitation (chiefly in Central Asia and

1632-471: Is sometimes modeled as a stochastic process but this is generally accepted as an approximation to processes that are otherwise too complicated to analyze. The collection of a long record of climate variables is essential for the study of climate. Climatology deals with the aggregate data that meteorologists have recorded. Scientists use both direct and indirect observations of the climate, from Earth observing satellites and scientific instrumentation such as

1700-491: Is sometimes termed hydroclimatology, in particular when studying the effects of climate change on the water cycle. The study of contemporary climates incorporates meteorological data accumulated over many years, such as records of rainfall, temperature and atmospheric composition. Knowledge of the atmosphere and its dynamics is also embodied in models , either statistical or mathematical , which help by integrating different observations and testing how well they match. Modeling

1768-435: Is the study of climate as related to human history and is thus concerned mainly with the last few thousand years. Boundary-layer climatology concerns exchanges in water, energy and momentum near surfaces. Further identified subtopics are physical climatology, dynamic climatology, tornado climatology , regional climatology, bioclimatology , and synoptic climatology. The study of the hydrological cycle over long time scales

1836-701: Is to be found in northern China including Manchuria and parts of North China , south-east Russia , and over much of the Korean Peninsula ; it has the Köppen classification Dwa . Much of central Asia , northwestern China , and southern Mongolia has a thermal regime similar to that of the Dfa climate type, but these regions receive so little precipitation that they are more often classified as steppes ( BSk ) or deserts ( BWk ). Dsa climates are rare; they are generally restricted to elevated areas adjacent to mid-latitude Mediterranean climate regions with

1904-441: Is used for understanding past, present and potential future climates. Climate research is made difficult by the large scale, long time periods, and complex processes which govern climate. Climate is governed by physical principles which can be expressed as differential equations . These equations are coupled and nonlinear, so that approximate solutions are obtained by using numerical methods to create global climate models . Climate

1972-698: The Black Sea coast), Belarus , Russia (mostly central part of European Russia ), south and central parts of the Nordic countries not bathed by the Atlantic Ocean or North Sea : Sweden (historical regions of Svealand and Götaland ), Denmark , Finland (south end, including the three largest cities ), Norway (most populated area), all Baltic States : Estonia , Latvia , Lithuania and also in parts of: Romania (generally above 100 m (328 ft)), Bosnia and Herzegovina , Turkey and in

2040-482: The Cairngorm Mountains of Scotland , (generally above 100 m (328 ft)). It has little warming or precipitation effects from the northern Atlantic. The cool summer subtype is marked by mild summers, long cold winters and less precipitation than the hot summer subtype; however, short periods of extreme heat are not uncommon. Northern Japan has a similar climate. In Asia, this climate type

2108-484: The Dfa climate type is present near the Black Sea in southern Ukraine , the Southern Federal District of Russia , southern Moldova , Serbia , parts of southern Romania , and Bulgaria , but tends to be drier and can be even semi-arid in these places. In East Asia, this climate exhibits a monsoonal tendency with much higher precipitation in summer than in winter, and due to the effects of

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2176-735: The El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO), the Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO), the North Atlantic oscillation (NAO), the Arctic oscillation (AO), the Pacific decadal oscillation (PDO), and the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation (IPO). Climate models are used for a variety of purposes from studying the dynamics of the weather and climate system to predictions of future climate. The Greeks began

2244-538: The Korean Peninsula , parts of Eastern Europe , parts of southern Ontario , much of the American Midwest , and the Northeast US , the climate combines hotter summer maxima and greater humidity (similar to those found in adjacent humid subtropical climates ) and moderately cold winters and more intermittent snow cover (averaging somewhat below freezing, too cold for a more temperate classification), and

2312-481: The Köppen climate classification , was developed during the late nineteenth century and is based on vegetation. It uses monthly data concerning temperature and precipitation . There are different types of variability: recurring patterns of temperature or other climate variables. They are quantified with different indices. Much in the way the Dow Jones Industrial Average , which is based on

2380-478: The Meiji restoration , was the capital of the newly-formed Nakauonuma District of Niigata Prefecture, and was proclaimed a village on April 1, 1889 with the creation of the modern municipalities system. It was raised to town status on September 24, 1897. Tōkamachi gained city status on March 31, 1954, by merging with the neighbouring villages of Nakajō, Kawaji and Rokka. The village of Yoshida (from Nakauonuma District)

2448-482: The climate system , such as the widespread melt of glaciers , sea level rise and shifts of flora and fauna. In contrast to meteorology , which emphasises short term weather systems lasting no more than a few weeks, climatology studies the frequency and trends of those systems. It studies the periodicity of weather events over years to millennia, as well as changes of long-term average weather patterns in relation to atmospheric conditions. Climatologists study both

2516-537: The lower house of the National Diet of Japan. Sericulture and the production of silk is a traditional mainstay of the local economy. Tōkamachi's status as a silk production hub subsequently made it a prominent producer of kimonos , although that has faded in recent years. [1] Agriculture, notably the cultivation of koshihikari rice, is also an important local product. Tōkamachi has 18 public elementary schools and nine public middle schools operated by

2584-591: The Canadian Prairie Provinces and below 40°N in the high Appalachians . In Europe, this subtype reaches its most northerly latitude in Bodø at the 67°N . High-altitude locations such as Flagstaff, Arizona , Aspen, Colorado and Los Alamos, New Mexico in the western United States exhibit local Dfb climates. The south-central and southwestern Prairie Provinces also fits the Dfb criteria from

2652-477: The Earth's land surface areas). Topics that climatologists study comprise three main categories: climate variability , mechanisms of climatic change, and modern changes of climate. Various factors affect the average state of the atmosphere at a particular location. For instance, midlatitudes will have a pronounced seasonal cycle of temperature whereas tropical regions show little variation of temperature over

2720-699: The Earth. Any unbalance results in a change of the average temperature of the Earth. Most climate models include the radiative effects of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide . These models predict a trend of increase of surface temperatures , as well as a more rapid increase of temperature at higher latitudes. Models can range from relatively simple to complex: Additionally, they are available with different resolutions ranging from >100 km to 1 km. High resolutions in global climate models are computational very demanding and only few global datasets exists. Examples are ICON or mechanistically downscaled data such as CHELSA (Climatologies at high resolution for

2788-547: The Western United States) grade into semi-arid climates with similar temperatures but low precipitation. A hot summer version of a continental climate features an average temperature of at least 22 °C (71.6 °F) in its warmest month. Since these regimes are restricted to the Northern Hemisphere, the warmest month is usually July or August. High temperatures during the warmest month tend to be in

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2856-400: The atmosphere, oceans, land surface, and ice. They are used for a variety of purposes from study of the dynamics of the weather and climate system to projections of future climate. All climate models balance, or very nearly balance, incoming energy as short wave (including visible) electromagnetic radiation to the Earth with outgoing energy as long wave (infrared) electromagnetic radiation from

2924-420: The central and northeastern portions of North America , Europe , and Asia . Occasionally, they can also be found at higher elevations above other more temperate climate types. They are rare in the Southern Hemisphere , limited to isolated high altitude locations, due to the larger ocean area at that latitude, smaller land mass, and the consequent greater maritime moderation. In the Northern Hemisphere, some of

2992-478: The city government and one private elementary and one private middle school. There are four public high schools operated by the Niigata Prefectural Board of Education. The prefectural also operates three special education schools. [REDACTED] Hokuetsu Express Hokuhoku Line [REDACTED] JR East - – Iiyama Line Humid continental climate A humid continental climate

3060-459: The classification symbol defines seasonal rainfall as follows: while the third letter denotes the extent of summer heat: Within North America, moisture within this climate regime is supplied by the Great Lakes , Gulf of Mexico and adjacent western subtropical Atlantic . Precipitation is relatively well distributed year-round in many areas with this climate ( f ), while others may see

3128-552: The climate system is warming. If more energy goes out, the energy budget is negative and earth experiences cooling. Climate change also influences the average sea level . Modern climate change is caused largely by the human emissions of greenhouse gas from the burning of fossil fuel which increases global mean surface temperatures . Increasing temperature is only one aspect of modern climate change, which also includes observed changes of precipitation , storm tracks and cloudiness. Warmer temperatures are causing further changes of

3196-425: The continents either do not penetrate low enough in latitude or taper too much to have any place that gets the combination of snowy winters and hot summers. Marine influences are very strong around 40°S and such preclude Dfa , Dwa , and Dsa climates from existing in the southern hemisphere. Also known as hemiboreal climate , areas featuring this subtype of the continental climate have an average temperature in

3264-526: The course of the Gulf Stream for use in sending mail from North America to Europe. Francis Galton (1822–1911) invented the term anticyclone . Helmut Landsberg (1906–1985) fostered the use of statistical analysis in climatology. During the early 20th century, climatology mostly emphasized the description of regional climates. This descriptive climatology was mainly an applied science, giving farmers and other interested people statistics about what

3332-482: The decades that followed, and while the history of climate change science started earlier, climate change only became one of the main topics of study for climatologists during the 1970s and afterward. Various subtopics of climatology study different aspects of climate. There are different categorizations of the sub-topics of climatology. The American Meteorological Society for instance identifies descriptive climatology, scientific climatology and applied climatology as

3400-420: The form of climate regimes as an alternative way to explain expected changes. For a more comprehensive list, see Continental climate#List of locations with a continental climate . Climatologist Climatology (from Greek κλίμα , klima , "slope"; and -λογία , -logia ) or climate science is the scientific study of Earth's climate , typically defined as weather conditions averaged over

3468-850: The formal study of climate; in fact, the word "climate" is derived from the Greek word klima , meaning "slope", referring to the slope or inclination of the Earth's axis. Arguably the most influential classic text concerning climate was On Airs, Water and Places written by Hippocrates about 400 BCE . This work commented on the effect of climate on human health and cultural differences between Asia and Europe. This idea that climate controls which populations excel depending on their climate, or climatic determinism , remained influential throughout history. Chinese scientist Shen Kuo (1031–1095) inferred that climates naturally shifted over an enormous span of time, after observing petrified bamboos found underground near Yanzhou (modern Yan'an , Shaanxi province),

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3536-481: The future. Some refer to this type of forecasting as pattern recognition, which remains a useful method of estimating rainfall over data voids such as oceans using knowledge of how satellite imagery relates to precipitation rates over land, as well as the forecasting of precipitation amounts and distribution of the future. A variation of this theme, used for medium range forecasting, is known as teleconnections , when systems in other locations are used to help determine

3604-562: The globe. Classification is an important method of simplifying complicated processes. Different climate classifications have been developed over the centuries, with the first ones in Ancient Greece . How climates are classified depends on what the application is. A wind energy producer will require different information (wind) in a classification than someone more interested in agriculture, for whom precipitation and temperature are more important. The most widely used classification,

3672-526: The high 20s to low 30s °C (80s °F), while average January afternoon temperatures are near or well below freezing. Frost-free periods typically last 4 to 7 months in this climate regime. Within North America , this climate includes portions of the central and eastern United States from east of 100°W to south of about the 44°N to the Atlantic . Precipitation increases further eastward in this zone and

3740-439: The humid continental climate covers a much larger area than the hot subtype. In North America, the climate zone covers from about 42°N to 50°N latitude mostly east of 100°W , including parts of Southern Ontario , the southern half of Quebec , The Maritimes , and Newfoundland , as well as the northern United States from eastern North Dakota east to Maine . However, it can be found as far north as 54°N , and further west in

3808-474: The humid continental climates, typically in around Hokkaido , Sakhalin Island , northeastern mainland Europe , Scandinavia , Nova Scotia , and Newfoundland are closer to the sea and heavily maritime-influenced and comparable to oceanic climates , with relatively cool summers, significant year-round precipitation (including high amounts of snow) and winters being just below the freezing mark (too cold for such

3876-406: The nature of climates – local, regional or global – and the natural or human-induced factors that cause climates to change. Climatology considers the past and can help predict future climate change . Phenomena of climatological interest include the atmospheric boundary layer , circulation patterns , heat transfer ( radiative , convective and latent ), interactions between the atmosphere and

3944-413: The normal weather was and how great chances were of extreme events. To do this, climatologists had to define a climate normal , or an average of weather and weather extremes over a period of typically 30 years. While scientists knew of past climate change such as the ice ages , the concept of climate as changing only very gradually was useful for descriptive climatology. This started to change during

4012-403: The oceans and land surface (particularly vegetation, land use and topography ), and the chemical and physical composition of the atmosphere. A relative difficult method of forecast, the analog technique requires remembering a previous weather event which is expected to be mimicked by an upcoming event. What makes it a difficult technique is that there is rarely a perfect analog for an event of

4080-537: The remnants thereof). Though humidity levels are often high in locations with humid continental climates, the "humid" designation means that the climate is not dry enough to be classified as semi-arid or arid . By definition, forests thrive within this climate. Biomes within this climate regime include temperate woodlands, temperate grasslands, temperate deciduous or evergreen forests, coniferous forests, and coniferous swamps. Within wetter areas, maple , spruce , pine , fir , and oak can be found. Fall foliage

4148-585: The steppe ( BSk ) climates. In the eastern and Midwestern United States, Pennsylvania , Ohio , Illinois , Indiana , southern New York , most of Connecticut and Rhode Island , and eastern Massachusetts fall into the hot-summer humid continental climate. In Canada, this climate type exists only over portions of Southern Ontario . In the Eastern Hemisphere, this climate regime is found within interior Eurasia and east-central Asia. Within Europe,

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4216-434: The stock prices of 30 companies, is used to represent the fluctuations of stock prices in general, climate indices are used to represent the essential elements of climate. Climate indices are generally devised with the twin objectives of simplicity and completeness, and each index typically represents the status and timing of the climate factor it represents. By their very nature, indices are simple, and combine many details into

4284-488: The strong Siberian High much colder winter temperatures than similar latitudes around the world, however with lower snowfall, the exception being western Japan with its heavy snowfall. Tōhoku , between Tokyo and Hokkaidō and Western coast of Japan also has a climate with Köppen classification Dfa , but is wetter even than that part of North America with this climate type. A variant which has dry winters and hence relatively lower snowfall with monsoonal type summer rainfall

4352-511: The three subcategories of climatology, a categorization based on the complexity and the purpose of the research. Applied climatologists apply their expertise to different industries such as manufacturing and agriculture . Paleoclimatology is the attempt to reconstruct and understand past climates by examining records such as ice cores and tree rings ( dendroclimatology ). Paleotempestology uses these same records to help determine hurricane frequency over millennia. Historical climatology

4420-501: The town of Kawanishi , and the village of Nakasato (both from Nakauonuma District ) to create the new and expanded city of Tōkamachi. Tōkamachi has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city legislature of 24 members. The city contributes two members to the Niigata Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the city is part of Niigata District No.6 of

4488-435: The warmest month below 22 °C (72 °F). Summer high temperatures in this zone typically average between 21–28 °C (70–82 °F) during the daytime and the average temperatures in the coldest month are generally well or far below the −3 °C (27 °F) (or 0 °C (32.0 °F)) isotherm. Frost-free periods typically last 3–5 months. Heat spells lasting over a week are rare. The warm summer version of

4556-455: The −3 °C (27 °F) average temperature isotherm (line of equal temperature) was near the southern extent of winter snowpack . In the United States, it is more common to use the 0 °C [32.0 °F] isotherm instead. The 10 °C (50 °F) average temperature was found to be roughly the minimum temperature necessary for tree reproduction and growth. Wide temperature ranges are common within this climate zone. Second letter in

4624-403: Was annexed on December 1, 1954 followed by the village of Shimojō (from Nakauonuma District) on February 1, 1955. On April 1, 1962 - Tōkamachi absorbed the village of Mizusawa (from Nakauonuma District). The Chūetsu earthquake of October 23, 2004 caused only minor damage to the city. On April 1, 2005 Tōkamachi absorbed the towns of Matsudai and Matsunoyama (both from Higashikubiki District );

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