What a Dfd climate is like
Dfd Subarctic with very cold winter. A rare climate of north-eastern Siberia, with very cold winters and a short summer.
The rules behind the code, in plain English:
- Cold (coldest month at or below 0 °C).
- No dry season (neither a dry summer nor a dry winter as defined above).
- Very cold winter: the coldest month is below -38 °C.
Dataset wording: "Cold, no dry season, very cold winter". In the maps of Beck et al. (2023) the class is written: D: Not B and Thot > 10 and Tcold <= 0; f: Not Ds or Dw; d: Not (a or b) and Tcold < -38.
Subarctic climate with a very cold winter has among the coldest winters on Earth outside the poles, with long, bitter cold and a short, mild or cool summer. The ground stays frozen below the surface and the sun barely clears the horizon in midwinter. Larch forest and hardy shrubs grow, and few people live here. Heavy fur and down clothing, heated, raised buildings and a very careful approach to travel are essential.
How much of the world is Dfd?
- less than 0.1%of the world's land outside Antarctica, 1991 to 2020
- 120,989 km²area, 1991 to 2020
- 0cities of 15,000 or more people (GeoNames) have this climate now
In 1901 to 1930 it covered 0.8% of that land, so its area then was 762.11% larger than in 1991 to 2020.
How the Dfd area is projected to change by 2071 to 2099
These figures compare the area of Dfd in each future map with 1991 to 2020. They come from the Beck et al. (2023) model projections under three emissions scenarios. They show what the scenarios imply, not what will happen.
| Map | Share of land | Change in area vs 1991 to 2020 |
|---|---|---|
| 1901 to 1930 (past) | 0.8% | +762.11% |
| 1991 to 2020 (now) | less than 0.1% | - |
| 2071 to 2099, SSP1-2.6 (low emissions) | less than 0.1% | -51.21% |
| 2071 to 2099, SSP2-4.5 (middle of the road) | less than 0.1% | -94.06% |
| 2071 to 2099, SSP5-8.5 (high emissions) | 0% | -100% |
Shares are of land outside Antarctica. A negative change means the zone shrinks.
What happens to today's Dfd land
Of the land that is Dfd in 1991 to 2020, this is how much stays Dfd and where the rest ends up in 2071 to 2099, by scenario:
| Scenario (2071 to 2099) | Stays Dfd | Where the rest goes (biggest first) |
|---|---|---|
| SSP1-2.6, low emissions | 38% | Dfc (50%), Dsc (5.8%), Dwd (4.1%), Dwc (1.4%), Dsd (0.5%) |
| SSP2-4.5, middle of the road | 2.1% | Dfc (73%), Dsc (12%), Dfa (8.3%), Dfb (2.5%), Dwc (0.5%) |
| SSP5-8.5, high emissions | 0% | Dfa (44%), Dfc (26%), Dsc (19%), Dsa (9.7%) |
Looking back, 90% of today's Dfd land was also Dfd in 1901 to 1930. The rest was Dwd (9.3%).
Where Dfd is found
The countries with the most Dfd land in 1991 to 2020:
| Country | Area | Share of all Dfd | Share of the country |
|---|---|---|---|
| Russia | 120,697 km² | 100% | 0.7% |
Places with a Dfd climate today
No city of 15,000 or more people in our place file sits in a Dfd climate in 1991 to 2020, so there is no list here. Zoom the map to see where it is.
Other cold (continental) climates (group D)
- 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)
- All 30 zones
Frequently asked questions
What does Dfd mean in the Köppen climate classification?
Cold (coldest month at or below 0 °C). No dry season (neither a dry summer nor a dry winter as defined above). Very cold winter: the coldest month is below -38 °C. The code is a short way of writing that: the first letter is the major group (D, cold (continental)) and the letters after it say more about rain and temperature.
What is a subarctic with very cold winter climate like?
Among the coldest winters on Earth outside the poles. A rare climate of north-eastern Siberia, with very cold winters and a short summer.
How much of the world has a Dfd climate?
less than 0.1% of the world's land outside Antarctica was Dfd in 1991 to 2020, about 120,989 km² (Beck et al. 2023, 1 km maps).
Will the Dfd climate zone grow or shrink?
Under the middle-of-the-road scenario (SSP2-4.5), the area of Dfd in 2071 to 2099 is 94.06% smaller than in 1991 to 2020. This is a model projection, not a forecast, and it differs under other scenarios (see the table on this page).
Data: Beck et al. (2023), CC BY 4.0. See data sources and licences. Köppen-Geiger classes describe long-term averages, not weather.