The climate of Samarkand
BSk Cold semi-arid (steppe). Dry grassland with cool or cold conditions. Steppe and prairie country. Too dry for forest, with big temperature swings between summer and winter in many places.
Samarkand is north of the equator, so summer falls in June to August and winter in December to February. The 1901 to 1930 map puts Samarkand in the same zone, BSk.
Samarkand: then, now and by 2100
| Map | Climate zone | Compared with now |
|---|---|---|
| 1901 to 1930 | BSk Cold semi-arid (steppe) | Same as now |
| 1991 to 2020 (now) | BSk Cold semi-arid (steppe) | - |
| 2071 to 2099, SSP1-2.6 (low emissions) | BSk Cold semi-arid (steppe) | Same as now |
| 2071 to 2099, SSP2-4.5 (middle of the road) | Csa Hot-summer Mediterranean | Different from now |
| 2071 to 2099, SSP5-8.5 (high emissions) | Csa Hot-summer Mediterranean | Different from now |
The 2071 to 2099 rows are model projections under three emissions scenarios, not forecasts. The 1901 to 1930 row is a reconstruction. All come from Beck et al. (2023).
Under the middle-of-the-road scenario (SSP2-4.5), the model puts Samarkand in Csa (hot-summer mediterranean) in 2071 to 2099, instead of BSk now. Under the high-emissions scenario (SSP5-8.5) it is Csa (hot-summer mediterranean).
Cities with the same climate as Samarkand
Other big cities that are BSk (cold semi-arid (steppe)) in 1991 to 2020, at most two per country:
Where Samarkand's future climate exists today
In the SSP2-4.5 map for 2071 to 2099, Samarkand is Csa. These cities are Csa in 1991 to 2020, so they give a rough idea of the future climate (the real conditions would differ in many ways).
- Istanbul, Turkey
- Los Angeles, United States
- Casablanca, Morocco
- Ankara, Turkey
- Perth, Australia
- Algiers, Algeria
- Rome, Italy
- Beirut, Lebanon
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Population of Samarkand from GeoNames: 595,200 (rank 989 in our list of 1,000). Climate data: Beck et al. (2023), CC BY 4.0. Data sources and licences.