What is the climate classification for a tundra climate? The Köppen classification is ET.
ET belongs to Köppen’s E, or polar, climate group. The E indicates that no month has an average temperature above 10°C. The T means tundra: the warmest month averages between 0°C and 10°C. That brief thawing season separates ET from EF, the ice-cap climate, where every month averages below 0°C.
Tundra climates occur around the Arctic margins, on subantarctic islands, and at high elevations above the tree line. They can therefore be found far from the poles, including in mountain ranges such as the Andes and the Himalayas. Low evaporation means that even modest precipitation can produce bogs and other waterlogged ground.
The label describes temperature, not a fixed amount of rain or snow. Most tundra vegetation consists of mosses, lichens, sedges, grasses, and dwarf shrubs rather than trees. Dfc is a different category: it is a subarctic climate with colder winters but at least one month averaging above 10°C. Cfc is subpolar oceanic, not tundra.