Iran is a land of enormous geographic diversity where all four seasons can be experienced in a single day. Two long and rugged mountain ranges that separate various basins from one another, combined with two very long coastlines, lead to the creation of a diverse climate in Iran. In the northern coastal plain between the Alborz Mountains and the Caspian Sea, the climate is subtropical and temperatures rarely fall below freezing. In the Zagors Mountain basin to the west, winter temperatures can drop well below freezing (as low as -200F), and heavy snow often covers the land in the winter. In the southern coastal plains of the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, winters are mild and summers are very hot and humid. The eastern and central basins are arid, with less than 7 inches of annual precipitation and summer temperatures in excess of 1000F. The Loot Desert in eastern Iran has been ranked the hottest place on earth with a record high temperature of 1600F.