🇺🇿Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan (447,400 km²) spans 37°–46°N, 56°–73°E across Central Asia's arid heartland, forming the region's most populous nation (35+ million) with one of Earth's most extreme continental climates governed by distance from oceans, latitude, and stark topographic contrasts between the vast Kyzylkum Desert lowlands and the snow-capped Tian Shan and Pamir-Alay mountain chains.

The dominant cold desert climate (Köppen BWk) blankets 80% of the territory, characterized by scorching summers (July averages 26–32°C, routinely exceeding 45°C in the Kyzylkum and Ferghana Valley) and surprisingly harsh winters (January −6 to +3°C, dropping below −30°C in northern Karakalpakstan), with meager annual precipitation of 100–400 mm concentrated in brief spring rains (March-May) while summer and autumn remain bone-dry.

The eastern Tian Shan foothills and Ferghana Valley rim (rising to 4,643 m at Khazret Sultan peak) intercept moisture-bearing westerlies, generating orographic precipitation up to 600 mm annually and sustaining montane walnut-fruit forests, alpine meadows, and critically important glaciers feeding the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers—Central Asia's lifelines now shrinking 30–40% since 1960 due to accelerating melt.

Uzbekistan has experienced major climate and environmental events. The Aral Sea has lost approximately 90 percent of its volume since the 1960s, exposing about 54,000 km² of lakebed. Muynak, formerly a fishing port, now lies over 170 km from any water. The region generates over 150 million tons of salt-laden dust annually. In July 2023, Termez reached 47.2°C. February 2022 brought −28°C to Nukus.

A severe 2021 drought reduced Amu Darya flows by 35 percent. Tashkent experienced severe flooding in May 2019 with 60 mm of rain in 90 minutes, killing 12 people. In 2008, avalanches killed 38 people when March snowpack in the Chatkal Mountains exceeded normal levels by 400 percent.

Our archive covers 0 Uzbek cities with daily ERA5 reanalysis data going back to 1940.