Climate Zone Map

Xi’an climate zone

Xi’an, China: BSk, cold semi-arid (steppe), in 1991 to 2020.

World map of Köppen-Geiger climate zones, 1991 to 2020Tap or scroll to load the interactive map

Period shown on the map
80%

Köppen-Geiger classes are based on 30-year averages of temperature and rain, not on the weather on any one day.

Key

A: Tropical

  • Af Tropical rainforest
  • Am Tropical monsoon
  • Aw Tropical savannah

B: Arid

  • BWh Hot desert
  • BWk Cold desert
  • BSh Hot semi-arid (steppe)
  • BSk Cold semi-arid (steppe)

C: Temperate

  • Csa Hot-summer Mediterranean
  • Csb Warm-summer Mediterranean
  • Csc Cold-summer Mediterranean
  • Cwa Humid subtropical with dry winter
  • Cwb Subtropical highland (dry winter)
  • Cwc Cold subtropical highland (dry winter)
  • Cfa Humid subtropical
  • Cfb Temperate oceanic
  • Cfc Subpolar oceanic

D: Cold (continental)

  • Dsa Hot-summer continental with dry summer
  • Dsb Warm-summer continental with dry summer
  • Dsc Subarctic with dry summer
  • Dsd Subarctic with dry summer and very cold winter
  • Dwa Hot-summer continental with dry winter
  • Dwb Warm-summer continental with dry winter
  • Dwc Subarctic with dry winter
  • Dwd Subarctic with dry winter and very cold winter
  • Dfa Hot-summer humid continental
  • Dfb Warm-summer humid continental
  • Dfc Subarctic (boreal)
  • Dfd Subarctic with very cold winter

E: Polar

  • ET Tundra
  • EF Ice cap (frost)

How to read the map. Each colour is a Köppen-Geiger climate class. The first letter is the major group (A tropical, B arid, C temperate, D cold, E polar); the other letters say how dry it is and how warm or cold. Tap anywhere to see the class under that spot in 1901 to 1930, 1991 to 2020 and, under three emissions scenarios, 2071 to 2099. The codes and names are always given in words, because colour alone is hard to tell apart for some people.

The climate of Xi’an

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.

Xi’an is north of the equator, so summer falls in June to August and winter in December to February. The 1901 to 1930 map put Xi’an in Cwa (humid subtropical with dry winter), so its zone is different from a century ago.

Xi’an: then, now and by 2100

MapClimate zoneCompared with now
1901 to 1930Cwa Humid subtropical with dry winterDifferent from now
1991 to 2020 (now)BSk Cold semi-arid (steppe)-
2071 to 2099, SSP1-2.6 (low emissions)Cwa Humid subtropical with dry winterDifferent from now
2071 to 2099, SSP2-4.5 (middle of the road)Cwa Humid subtropical with dry winterDifferent from now
2071 to 2099, SSP5-8.5 (high emissions)Cwa Humid subtropical with dry winterDifferent 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 Xi’an in Cwa (humid subtropical with dry winter) in 2071 to 2099, instead of BSk now. Under the high-emissions scenario (SSP5-8.5) it is Cwa (humid subtropical with dry winter).

Cities with the same climate as Xi’an

Other big cities that are BSk (cold semi-arid (steppe)) in 1991 to 2020, at most two per country:

Where Xi’an's future climate exists today

In the SSP2-4.5 map for 2071 to 2099, Xi’an is Cwa. These cities are Cwa in 1991 to 2020, so they give a rough idea of the future climate (the real conditions would differ in many ways).

More

Population of Xi’an from GeoNames: 12,952,907 (rank 14 in our list of 1,000). Climate data: Beck et al. (2023), CC BY 4.0. Data sources and licences.

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