🇰🇿Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan stretches roughly 40°–56°N as the world's largest landlocked country (approximately 2,724,902 km²) and the ninth-largest country overall, spanning Central Asia with a small slice of Eastern Europe across the Ural River. Bordered by Russia to the north, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan to the south, it also claims 1,894 km of Caspian Sea coastline in the west.

The landscape delivers dramatic extremes: the vast central Kazakh Steppe, the Caspian Depression descending to the Karagiye trough at −132 m (the lowest point in Central Asia and in the country), the towering Tian Shan ranges in the southeast crowned by Khan Tengri (7,010 m on the Kyrgyz border, the highest peak), the rugged Altai in the northeast, the desiccated Aral Sea basin, and the great, partly saline Lake Balkhash.

This exceptional topography generates an extraordinary climate spectrum: humid continental (Dfa / Dfb) in the northern steppe, cold semi-arid (BSk) and cold desert (BWk) across the vast interior and Aral basin, and subarctic to alpine (Dfc / ET) in the Altai and Tian Shan highlands, making Kazakhstan one of the world's most thermally extreme inhabited countries.

Astana (formerly Nur-Sultan), the capital at 51°N, has January lows of −19°C (highs −10°C) and July highs of 27°C with only 340 mm of annual precipitation, ranking among the coldest national capitals on Earth. Almaty in the southeastern Tian Shan foothills sees January highs of 1°C and lows of −8°C, and July highs of 31°C, with 670 mm, moderated by mountain proximity. Atyrau on the Caspian shores has January highs of −3°C and lows of −9°C, and July highs of 34°C, with 185 mm.

Aktau on the Caspian coast stays milder, with January highs of 2°C (lows −4°C) and July highs of 32°C with 170 mm. Shymkent in the south records January highs of 5°C and lows of −5°C, and July highs of 34°C, with 600 mm. Karaganda on the central steppe endures January lows of −18°C (highs −9°C) and July highs of 26°C with 380 mm. The national all-time temperature range spans approximately −57°C recorded at Atbasar to a scorching 49°C at Turkistan, the country's hottest temperature on record.

Major climate events affecting Kazakhstan include the Aral Sea desiccation, which has lost approximately 90 percent of its volume since the 1960s and represents one of the world's most significant environmental changes. Steppe wildfires and dust storms occur regularly. The 2010 Russian heatwave also affected Kazakhstan. In spring 2024, snowmelt floods struck the north and west of the country, including the Akmola, Aktobe, Atyrau, Kostanay and North Kazakhstan regions. Glaciers in the Tian Shan and Altai ranges are retreating, reducing water supplies to the region. Caspian Sea levels have declined by about 2 m since the mid-2000s. In addition, desertification is advancing in the Kyzylkum.

Our archive covers 23 Kazakh cities with daily ERA5 reanalysis data going back to 1940. The hottest July afternoons are in Turkistan, with average highs around 35.9°C, while Pavlodar has the coldest January nights, with average lows near −20.9°C. Comparing the last decade against the 1940–1970 baseline, mean temperatures across these cities have risen by about 1.8°C.