General · EdgepediaOctober 15, 20265 min read

Subtropical climate

A subtropical climate is a climate zone lying between the tropics and the fully temperate middle latitudes, warm enough that most of the year is frost-free but cool enough that at least one month stays below tropical heat. In the most widely cited formal definition, Glenn T. Trewartha's 1966 revision of the Köppen system, a subtropical region has eight or more months with a mean temperature of 10 °C (50 °F) or higher and at least one month with a mean temperature below 18 °C (64.4 °F)¹.

Key fact	Detail
Trewartha definition	8 or more months with mean temperature ≥ 10 °C (50 °F), and at least one month with mean temperature below 18 °C (64.4 °F)¹
Köppen Cfa/Cwa	Coldest month above 0 °C, at least one month above 22 °C (71.6 °F), and at least four months above 10 °C; Cwa adds a dry winter²
Typical location	Eastern sides of continents between roughly 20° and 35° north and south of the equator¹
Principal regions	Southeastern United States, southeastern South America, coastal southeast South Africa, eastern Australia, and eastern Asia from northern India through south China to Japan¹
Atmospheric setting	Descending branch of the Hadley cell near latitude 30° in each hemisphere produces the subtropical highs³

Formal definitions

Trewartha's scheme. Tropical and polar climates remained as in the original Köppen scheme.

Köppen's scheme. In the Köppen-Geiger system the humid subtropical climate is labeled Cfa, with Cwa for the monsoon-influenced variant with a dry winter. The criteria are a coldest month averaging above 0 °C (32 °F), at least one month averaging above 22 °C (71.6 °F), and at least four months averaging above 10 °C (50 °F)². Some older Köppen versions placed the winter boundary at −3 °C (27 °F) instead of 0 °C⁴. The Köppen-Trewartha (K-T) hybrid, which applies Trewartha's group thresholds to Köppen's types, is widely used in research applications such as ecoregion mapping and model evaluation⁵.

The two systems disagree in practice. Some researchers using the Trewartha framework explicitly refer to the hot-summer warm-temperate types (Cfa, Cwa) as subtropical to distinguish them from colder temperate zones⁶.

Geographic distribution

Humid subtropical climates normally occupy the eastern sides of continents between 20° and 35° north and south of the equator¹. The main areas with this climate are the southeastern United States, southeastern South America, the coastal southeast of South Africa, eastern Australia, and a band of eastern Asia running from northern India through southern China to Japan.¹ Most such climates are found along the coast under the influence of moist maritime air, but they can extend far inland, as in North America and China¹.

The dry-summer subtropical (Mediterranean, Cs) type instead sits on the western sides of continents, where the subtropical high-pressure belt and cold ocean currents produce wet winters and dry summers. In the Köppen-Trewartha framework, subtropical climates (Cs, Cr) are limited to south of parallel 45°N⁵.

Climate characteristics

Humid subtropical climates have hot, humid summers and mild to cool winters⁷. Rainfall is more or less evenly distributed through the year in the Cf type, and annual precipitation varies from about 254 cm (100 in) near the coast to 63.5 cm (25 in) inland¹. In east and south Asia the monsoon system dominates the rainfall regime, producing the Cw pattern¹. In the southeastern United States, incursions of very cold air from the polar front bring occasional frosts and tornadoes¹.

The position of the zone follows from the general circulation of the atmosphere. The Hadley cell, first proposed by George Hadley in 1735 to explain the trade winds, rises near the equator, flows poleward aloft, and descends at about latitude 30° in each hemisphere, producing the semipermanent subtropical high-pressure centers³. The poleward edge of the subtropics is therefore set by where this sinking air gives way to the rising and storm-bearing flow of middle latitudes.

Vegetation and land use

Vegetation in the humid subtropical zone is dominated by evergreen trees, shrubs, palms, and ferns⁸. The climate supports major agriculture: in China the humid subtropical region is a diverse agricultural zone in which winter wheat is the major cereal crop of the winter season⁹. In the United States, Florida's subtropical conditions support fruit crops such as citrus and avocado, whose performance depends strongly on site hydrology, drainage, and wind exposure¹⁰. Soil management in these zones faces erosion, poor drainage, acidity, low organic matter, and soil-borne disease among its principal challenges¹.

Subtropical climates under global warming

The subtropical belt is shifting. The IPCC's Sixth Assessment Report states that widening Hadley cells were expected to result in a poleward expansion of subtropical dry zones, and that the recent Hadley circulation expansion was very likely associated with poleward shifts of tropical cyclone tracks over the western North Pacific since the 1940s and of extratropical storm tracks in the Southern Hemisphere since the 1970s¹¹. Model simulations project a more noticeable weakening of the Northern Hemisphere winter Hadley cell than the Southern Hemisphere winter cell¹¹. Earlier assessments likewise identified robust drying at the poleward boundaries of the five subtropical oceanic high centers in the South Indian, South Atlantic, South Pacific, North Atlantic, and, less robustly, the North Pacific¹². For climate-zone mapping generally, warming is projected to expand lower tropical and subtropical zones into higher elevations and latitudes¹³.

References

Topic: Encyclopedia › Physical world and mathematics › Earth sciences › Climate and weather › Climatology and climates of places › Climate classification and types › Temperate, oceanic, and Mediterranean climate types

Initially written Oct 15, 2026 · Edited: Oct 25, 2026

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