World climate types — what the weather is really like

Hot all year with a clearly dry winter and a wet summer.

Cities like: Key West, Cancún, Playa del Carmen

Hot and wet every month, with no real dry season.

Cities like: Nassau, Salvador, Singapore

Hot year-round with a short dry season and a heavy wet season.

Cities like: Miami, Santo Domingo, San Juan

Hot all year, with the dry season falling in summer rather than winter — the less common tropical-savanna variant.

Cities like: San José, Panama City, Phuket

Dry grassland and steppe — hotter and a touch wetter than true desert.

Cities like: Sevilla, Palma, Funchal

Very little rain and very hot — summer highs above 38°C (100°F).

Cities like: Las Vegas, Phoenix, Scottsdale

Dry steppe with cold winters and warm-to-hot summers.

Cities like: Avignon, Madrid, Valencia

Arid with sharp seasonal swings — hot summers and cold winters.

Cities like: Mendoza, Arequipa, Page

Hot, humid summers and mild winters, with rain all year.

Cities like: Lyon, Toulouse, Venice

Mild and damp year-round, with no real extremes.

Cities like: London, Edinburgh, Glasgow

Mild, rainy winters and hot, dry summers.

Cities like: Nice, Marseille, Cannes

Mild wet winters with cooler dry summers — the Pacific Northwest pattern.

Cities like: Porto, San Francisco, San Jose

Hot, wet summers and cool, dry winters — South China / Northern India pattern.

Cities like: Guadalajara, Shenzhen, Hong Kong

Mild dry winters and wet summers, with summer heat held down by elevation — the classic highland-tropics climate.

Cities like: Mexico City, San Miguel de Allende, Cusco

Cold winters and warm — not hot — summers, with rain spread through the year.

Cities like: Helsinki, Moscow, Saint Petersburg

Cold winters and hot summers, with rain spread through the year.

Cities like: Chicago, Minneapolis, Sapporo