How is the desert like in the winter?
Believe it or not, many of the largest deserts on Earth are what are known as “cold deserts” - whereas they are arid regions, with little or scant rainfall, but because of elevation or lattitude are cold most of the time.Graphic courtesy of Wikimedia.org[1]Some of the largest deserts include:Antarctica (cold winter) [Antarctica}Arctic (regions of countries that line the Arctic Ocean) [Arctic}Sahara (subtropical) [Africa]Arabian Desert (Subtropical) [Western Asia]Gobi Desert (cold winter) [China and Mongolia]Kalahari Desert (subtropical) [Southern Africa]Great Victoria Desert (subtropical) [Australia]Patagonian Desert (cold winter) [Argentina and Chile]Syrian Desert (subtropical) [Western Asia]Great Basin Desert (cold winter) [United States]Chihuahuan Desert (subtropical) [Mexico and United States]Great Sandy Desert (subtropical) [Australia]Karakum Desert (cold winter) [Turkmenistan]Colorado Plateau (cold winter) [United States]Sonoran Desert (subtropical) [Mexico and United States]Kyzyikum Desert (cold winter) [Central Asia]Taklamakan Desert (cold winter) [China]Thar Desert (subtropical) [South Asia (India and Pakistan)]Gibson Desert (subtropical) [Australia]Dasht-e Margo Desert (subtropical) [Afghanistan]Registan Desert (subtropical) [Afghanistan]Simpson Desert (subtropical) [Australia]Atacama Desert (cool coastal) [South America (Chile and Peru)]Mojave Desert (subtropical) [United States]Namib Desert (cool coastal) [Southern Africa (Angola and Namibia)]Dasht-e Kavir (subtropical) [Iran]Dasht-e Loot (subtropical) [Iran}Subtropical deserts are what we normally think of when the word ‘desert’ is used, however the only true classification of any desert is its aridity.Where the desert is cold and dry, what little moisture may fall as snow, and then not melt for months at a time. In some cases also the normal temperature falls well below 0 deg C. When the temperature of the air is very low, the air can’t hold much moisture at all. If you watch the dew points on cold days, the dew point is usually much lower, below -20 deg C or more.As an example, the Chugash Mountains that provide a stirring backdrop to Anchorage, Alaska are very dry.Footnotes[1] List of deserts by area - Wikipedia
How cold does the Mojave Desert get in the winter?
Cold, Damn cold when the winds kick up.
What is the largest cold winter desert in the world?
The term "desert" applies to areas that lack significant moisture and thus would include sparse if any life. The temperature is immaterial and the polar regions are included in the defined "deserts" of the world and so would be included among the "largest cold winter deserts" of the world.
Why the desert climate is very cold at winter espcially at night ?
The reason the air cools down so much after the sun goes down in desert like climates is because there is not enough humidity in the air to maintain the heat load put into the air during the day. I live in Colorado and we have the same condition here. Our climate is relatively dry here on the high plains, and our nights are always very cool. No one goes out at night even in the Summer without taking a sweater or light jacket along. Since the air is so dry, it cannot maintain the heat from the day. Our air conditioners are on during the day, but by late evening they are all shut down.