Thermal lows, or heat lows, are non-frontal low-pressure areas that occur over the continents in the subtropics during the warm season, as the result of intense heating when compared to their surrounding environments. Thermal lows occur near the Sonoran Desert, on the Mexican plateau, in California's  Great Central Valley, the Sahara, over north-west Argentina in South America, over the  Kimberley region of north-west Australia, the Iberian peninsula, and the Tibetan plateau.