🇰🇿Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan stretches 40°35′–55°27′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 Mountains. 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 (one of Earth's deepest land depressions and the country's lowest point), 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 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, hot semi-arid (BSh) and hot desert (BWh) on the southern Kyzylkum margins, 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, averages −15°C in January and 22°C in July with only 320 mm of annual rainfall, ranking among the coldest national capitals on Earth. Almaty in the southeastern Tian Shan foothills registers −5°C in January and 23°C in July with 580 mm, moderated by mountain proximity. Atyrau on the Caspian shores averages −7°C in January and 26°C in July with 200 mm.

Aktau on the Caspian coast stays milder at 2°C in January and 28°C in July with 150 mm. Shymkent in the south records 0°C in January and 28°C in July with 600 mm. Karaganda on the central steppe endures −13°C in January and 21°C in July with 300 mm. The national all-time temperature range spans approximately −57°C recorded at Atbasar to a scorching 49.4°C at Turkestan in July 2024, 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 had effects on Kazakhstan's climate margins. In spring 2024, Astana experienced flooding that affected much of the capital. Glaciers in the Tian Shan and Altai ranges are retreating, reducing water supplies to the region. Caspian Sea levels have declined approximately 30 cm since 2005. In addition, desertification is advancing in the southern Kyzylkum.

Our archive covers 0 Kazakh cities with daily ERA5 reanalysis data going back to 1940.4°C at Turkestan, accelerating Tian Shan and Altai glacier retreat, and ongoing Caspian Sea decline.