Or, more precisely, the distance between the ground and the center of the eyeball. But assuming the earth were a perfect sphere: Average radius of earth = 6,372,797 meters Draw a circle representing the earth.
As a result, the Namib receives an average annual rainfall of only 2.5cm (1in). The sand dunes of the desert receive moisture from the atmosphere, in the form of fog. Every 10 days or so, a dense night fog rolls inland for a distance of 80km (50mi) or more, shrouding the coast and much of the desert. The fog condenses into a thick dew, creating an annual average of 4cm (1.6in) of moisture. Temperature in the Namib reaches a high of 66Â°C (150Â°F) in the middle of the day. Gravel and rock plains extend north from the Kuiseb River. The treacherous coastal waters of this region regularly snare ships, such as the Dunedin Star (1942) and the Shawnee (1976), and cast them up on the shifting sands.
They have cool winters and long, warm summers. Coastal deserts are located on the west coasts of continents between 20Â° to 30Â° latitude. Winds off the coast blows in an easterly pattern and prevents the moisture from moving onto the land. The Namib Desert in Africa and the Atacama Desert in Chile are coastal deserts. Cold Winter Deserts . Cold winter deserts are also known as semi-arid deserts. They have long, dry summers and cold winters with low rain or snowfall. In the United States, the Great Basin, the Colorado Plateau and the Red Desert are all cold winter deserts. Other cold winter deserts include the Gobi desert in China and Mongolia and the Patagonian desert in Argentina.