What a Dwb climate is like
Dwb Warm-summer continental with dry winter. Cold, dry winters and a warm, wetter summer, found in north-east Asia and on high ground.
The rules behind the code, in plain English:
- Cold (coldest month at or below 0 °C).
- Dry winter: the driest winter month gets less than a tenth of the rain of the wettest summer month.
- Warm summer: the warmest month is under 22 °C, and at least four months are above 10 °C.
Dataset wording: "Cold, dry winter, warm summer". In the maps of Beck et al. (2023) the class is written: D: Not B and Thot > 10 and Tcold <= 0; w: Pwdry < Pswet/10; b: Not a and Tmon10 >= 4.
Warm-summer continental climate with a dry winter has warm summers and cold, dry winters. Most of the rain comes in the warmer months, and winter brings clear, cold, dry days with little snow. Mixed forest and grain farming are typical. Winters call for heavy coats and good heating, and summers for light clothes.
How much of the world is Dwb?
- 1.3%of the world's land outside Antarctica, 1991 to 2020
- 1,712,469 km²area, 1991 to 2020
- 168cities of 15,000 or more people (GeoNames) have this climate now
In 1901 to 1930 it covered 1.1% of that land, so its area then was 11.08% smaller than in 1991 to 2020.
How the Dwb area is projected to change by 2071 to 2099
These figures compare the area of Dwb 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) | 1.1% | -11.08% |
| 1991 to 2020 (now) | 1.3% | - |
| 2071 to 2099, SSP1-2.6 (low emissions) | 1.1% | -14.42% |
| 2071 to 2099, SSP2-4.5 (middle of the road) | 1% | -23.59% |
| 2071 to 2099, SSP5-8.5 (high emissions) | 0.8% | -35.15% |
Shares are of land outside Antarctica. A negative change means the zone shrinks.
What happens to today's Dwb land
Of the land that is Dwb in 1991 to 2020, this is how much stays Dwb and where the rest ends up in 2071 to 2099, by scenario:
| Scenario (2071 to 2099) | Stays Dwb | Where the rest goes (biggest first) |
|---|---|---|
| SSP1-2.6, low emissions | 54% | Dwa (36%), Dfb (3.1%), BSk (2.5%), Cwb (2.3%), Dfa (1.1%) |
| SSP2-4.5, middle of the road | 26% | Dwa (55%), BSk (6.8%), Dfa (4.1%), Cwb (3.6%), Dfb (3.3%) |
| SSP5-8.5, high emissions | 3.6% | Dwa (65%), BSk (12%), Dfa (8.9%), Cwb (6.2%), Cwa (3.7%) |
Looking back, 69% of today's Dwb land was also Dwb in 1901 to 1930. The rest was Dwc (29%), Dfb (2.2%).
Where Dwb is found
The countries with the most Dwb land in 1991 to 2020:
| Country | Area | Share of all Dwb | Share of the country |
|---|---|---|---|
| China | 895,815 km² | 52% | 9.6% |
| Russia | 620,686 km² | 36% | 3.7% |
| Mongolia | 78,924 km² | 4.6% | 5.1% |
| North Korea | 51,491 km² | 3% | 42% |
| United States | 20,912 km² | 1.2% | 0.2% |
| India | 20,072 km² | 1.2% | 0.6% |
| Nepal | 12,381 km² | 0.7% | 8.4% |
| Bhutan | 5,164 km² | 0.3% | 13% |
Places with a Dwb climate today
The biggest cities in the 1991 to 2020 map that sit in Dwb (at most two per country):
- Qingyang, China
- Lhasa, China
- Irkutsk, Russia
- Khabarovsk, Russia
- Hyesan, North Korea
- Hyesan-dong, North Korea
- Dickinson, United States
- Bunjwah, India
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
- 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
- All 30 zones
Frequently asked questions
What does Dwb mean in the Köppen climate classification?
Cold (coldest month at or below 0 °C). Dry winter: the driest winter month gets less than a tenth of the rain of the wettest summer month. Warm summer: the warmest month is under 22 °C, and at least four months are above 10 °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 warm-summer continental with dry winter climate like?
Warm summers and cold, dry winters. Cold, dry winters and a warm, wetter summer, found in north-east Asia and on high ground.
How much of the world has a Dwb climate?
1.3% of the world's land outside Antarctica was Dwb in 1991 to 2020, about 1,712,469 km² (Beck et al. 2023, 1 km maps).
Will the Dwb climate zone grow or shrink?
Under the middle-of-the-road scenario (SSP2-4.5), the area of Dwb in 2071 to 2099 is 23.59% 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.