Game

The Climate Maker

Build a climate, see its Köppen code, then take on the challenges.

Play

Build a climate

Slide the temperatures and the rain, and watch the Köppen code appear, with every step of the rules spelled out. Then switch to Challenge and try to build a hot desert, a tundra or the UK’s own Cfb.

The Maker is our own code. The rules come from Encyclopaedia Britannica’s Köppen table: Encyclopaedia Britannica: Köppen climate classification Encyclopaedia Britannica: Köppen climate classification Encyclopaedia Britannica: Köppen climate classification Encyclopaedia Britannica: Köppen climate classification

The rules it uses

Any climate that passes the dryness test is a B, whatever else it is like. Encyclopaedia Britannica: Köppen climate classification
Rule for B (rain mostly in summer): yearly rainfall in mm is less than 20 times the yearly mean temperature plus 280. Mostly in winter: less than 20 times the temperature. Spread out: 20 times the temperature plus 140. Encyclopaedia Britannica: Köppen climate classification
Rule for A: the coolest month averages 18 °C or more. Encyclopaedia Britannica: Köppen climate classification
Am: the driest month gets under 60 mm, but at least 100 minus the yearly rainfall divided by 25. Encyclopaedia Britannica: Köppen climate classification
Rule for C: warmest month 10 °C or more, coldest month below 18 °C but above −3 °C. Encyclopaedia Britannica: Köppen climate classification
Rule for D: warmest month 10 °C or more, coldest month −3 °C or lower. Encyclopaedia Britannica: Köppen climate classification
Third letters: a, warmest month 22 °C or above; b, at least four months of 10 °C or more but warmest under 22 °C; c, one to three months of 10 °C or more. Encyclopaedia Britannica: Köppen climate classification
Rule for E: the warmest month is below 10 °C. ET: warmest month above 0 °C. EF: warmest month 0 °C or below. Encyclopaedia Britannica: Köppen climate classification