Afghanistan
10 cities
Climate overview
Afghanistan lies between 29°N and 38°N in landlocked Central and South Asia, dominated by the towering Hindu Kush range. The country shows predominantly arid and semi-arid climates with a strongly continental character: scorching summers, frigid winters, and large diurnal swings.
Kabul, at 1,800 m elevation, sees January lows around −6°C and July highs around 32°C, while Kandahar in the southern plains reaches about 40°C on a typical July afternoon; Jalalabad, lower and warmer, feels almost subtropical year-round. Precipitation is scarce and falls mainly on the northern highlands, arriving in March and April, whereas the arid southwest is far drier, with only about 50 mm a year at Zaranj in the Sistan Basin. The notorious 120-day Sistan wind (Bad-e-Sad-o-Bist) scours the southwest from late spring through summer, and the fringes of the Indian monsoon occasionally bring heavier rains to Nuristan and the southeastern valleys in July and August.
Our archive covers 10 Afghan cities with daily ERA5 reanalysis data going back to 1940. The hottest July afternoons are in Kandahār, with average highs around 40.5°C, while Ghazni has the coldest January nights, with average lows near −12.7°C. Comparing the last decade against the 1940–1970 baseline, mean temperatures across these cities have risen by about 2.1°C.
How the climate has shifted in Afghanistan
Average across 10 cities with full ERA5 coverage: 1940–1970 baseline vs the last decade (2016–2025).
- Annual mean temperature
- 15.7°C→17.7°C
- Days above 30°C per year
- 110 days→126 days+16
- Frost days per year
- 67 days→47 days−21
- Tropical nights (≥20°C) per year
- 51 nights→73 nights+22
Warmest year in the record so far: 2021.
What's unusual right now
From a snapshot of the world's largest cities updated each hour. Today's mean temperature compared with each city's long-term average for the same calendar date (ERA5 climatology, 1940 onward). Last 30 days uses each city's rolling daily-mean vs its monthly average. Not a global ranking.