Temperature- During summers, the temperatures range between 90 to 104 degrees and in winters it drops down to 64 to 73 degrees fahrenheit.
Rainfall- The Australian continent is one of the driest in the world apart from Antarctica. Nearly 50% of Australia receives less than 10 inches of rainfall in a year. Rainfall is unpredictable. For example, Alice Springs supposedly has 10.5 inches a year but 70 % of years are below average. It’s a land of droughts and flooding rains.
Soil- Soils are ancient and infertile. Nitrogen and phosphorus levels are, on average, less than half that found in other arid regions of the world.
Location- The main reason for the formation of the Australian deserts is their location. Like most major deserts across the world the they are found around a certain latitude (roughly 30° north/south of the equator) where the weather phenomena create a dry climate.
Elevation- Australia'a elevation ranges from: Highest point - Mount Kosciuszko - 7,310 feet. Mt.Kosciuszko lies within the Australian Alps, an area of the Great Dividing Range, which runs down the eastern coast of the continent, and is where Australia's highest elevations can be found. Lowest point - Lake Eyre - 39 feet below sea level. Lake Eyre lies within Australia's inland desert area, but much of the desert also varies in elevation from around 98 feet above sea level to 1150 feet above sea level.
Humidity- The air over the desert region is usually very dry. Annual average relative humidity in the mid-afternoon (3 pm) is below 30% over most of the area, and falls as low as 20% in parts of inland Western Australia. Days with humidity falling below 10% are not unusual, especially in late winter and spring. The main exception occurs along the Pilbara coast of Western Australia, where sea breezes can bring shallow, very humid layers of marine air from the ocean. Dew point temperatures in summer (the temperature at which dew will start to form if the air mass is cooled) regularly exceed 77°F at Port Hedland and can reach as high as 86°F, among the highest values observed anywhere in Australia.
Rainfall- The Australian continent is one of the driest in the world apart from Antarctica. Nearly 50% of Australia receives less than 10 inches of rainfall in a year. Rainfall is unpredictable. For example, Alice Springs supposedly has 10.5 inches a year but 70 % of years are below average. It’s a land of droughts and flooding rains.
Soil- Soils are ancient and infertile. Nitrogen and phosphorus levels are, on average, less than half that found in other arid regions of the world.
Location- The main reason for the formation of the Australian deserts is their location. Like most major deserts across the world the they are found around a certain latitude (roughly 30° north/south of the equator) where the weather phenomena create a dry climate.
Elevation- Australia'a elevation ranges from: Highest point - Mount Kosciuszko - 7,310 feet. Mt.Kosciuszko lies within the Australian Alps, an area of the Great Dividing Range, which runs down the eastern coast of the continent, and is where Australia's highest elevations can be found. Lowest point - Lake Eyre - 39 feet below sea level. Lake Eyre lies within Australia's inland desert area, but much of the desert also varies in elevation from around 98 feet above sea level to 1150 feet above sea level.
Humidity- The air over the desert region is usually very dry. Annual average relative humidity in the mid-afternoon (3 pm) is below 30% over most of the area, and falls as low as 20% in parts of inland Western Australia. Days with humidity falling below 10% are not unusual, especially in late winter and spring. The main exception occurs along the Pilbara coast of Western Australia, where sea breezes can bring shallow, very humid layers of marine air from the ocean. Dew point temperatures in summer (the temperature at which dew will start to form if the air mass is cooled) regularly exceed 77°F at Port Hedland and can reach as high as 86°F, among the highest values observed anywhere in Australia.