🇪🇹Ethiopia

Ethiopia extends from 3°24′ to 14°53′N, a landlocked Horn of Africa nation dominated by the Ethiopian Highlands—approximately 50% of the country above 1,500 m, rising to Ras Dashen at 4,550 m in the Simien Mountains, one of the highest peaks in Africa—split by the Great Rift Valley running northeast to southwest through Lake Awash and the Rift Valley lakes including Ziway, Abijata, and Awasa.

The terrain descends to the hot Danakil Depression in the northeast at 155 m below sea level, the hottest year-round place on Earth, and the Ogaden and Somali lowlands in the southeast. This produces extreme thermal-altitude stratification and three traditional zones: kola, the hot lowland with BSh and BWh climates below 1,500 m; woina dega, the temperate belt from 1,500 to 2,500 m with Aw and Cwa climates; and dega, the cool highland above 2,500 m with Cwb and ET on the very highest summits where rare snow occasionally falls.

Addis Ababa at 2,355 m averages 16°C year-round with 1,160 mm rainfall, split between small belg rains (March–April) and major kiremt rains (June–September). Bahir Dar on Lake Tana averages 19°C with 1,400 mm; Gondar 18°C with 1,090 mm; Simien receives over 1,700 mm. Dire Dawa in the eastern lowlands averages 24°C with 600 mm. Dallol in the Danakil records 34–35°C, among Earth's hottest inhabited places.

Gambela in the western lowlands averages 28°C with 1,200 mm. Multi-year droughts in 1973, 1984, 2002, 2011, 2015–17, and 2020–23 have impacted food security. La Niña failures of the belg and kiremt rains contribute to humanitarian consequences. Flash floods strike the Awash basin, and snow cover on Ras Dashen has become rare.

Our archive covers 1 Ethiopian cities with daily ERA5 reanalysis data going back to 1940. The warmest July averages occur in Addis Ababa, around 19.2°C, while Addis Ababa records the coldest January nights near 7.8°C. Comparing the last decade against the 1940–1970 baseline, mean temperatures across these cities have risen by about 1.9°C.