page_title: Climate of Antarctica
hierarchical_section_title: Climate of Antarctica
context_page_description: The climate of Antarctica is the coldest on Earth. The continent is also extremely dry, averaging 166 mm of precipitation per year. Snow rarely melts on most parts of the continent, and, after being compressed, becomes the glacier ice that makes up the ice sheet. Weather fronts rarely penetrate far into the continent, because of the katabatic winds. Most of Antarctica has an ice-cap climate with very cold, generally extremely dry weather.
context_section_description: The climate of Antarctica is the coldest on Earth. The continent is also extremely dry (it is technically a desert), averaging 166 mm (6.5 in) of precipitation per year. Snow rarely melts on most parts of the continent, and, after being compressed, becomes the glacier ice that makes up the ice sheet. Weather fronts rarely penetrate far into the continent, because of the katabatic winds. Most of Antarctica has an ice-cap climate (Köppen classification EF) with very cold, generally extremely dry weather.
caption: Surface temperature of Antarctica in winter and summer from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts
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