The climate of Lhasa
Dwb Warm-summer continental with dry winter. Warm summers and cold, dry winters. Cold, dry winters and a warm, wetter summer, found in north-east Asia and on high ground.
Lhasa is north of the equator, so summer falls in June to August and winter in December to February. The 1901 to 1930 map puts Lhasa in the same zone, Dwb.
Lhasa: then, now and by 2100
| Map | Climate zone | Compared with now |
|---|---|---|
| 1901 to 1930 | Dwb Warm-summer continental with dry winter | Same as now |
| 1991 to 2020 (now) | Dwb Warm-summer continental with dry winter | - |
| 2071 to 2099, SSP1-2.6 (low emissions) | Dwb Warm-summer continental with dry winter | Same as now |
| 2071 to 2099, SSP2-4.5 (middle of the road) | BSk Cold semi-arid (steppe) | Different from now |
| 2071 to 2099, SSP5-8.5 (high emissions) | BSk Cold semi-arid (steppe) | 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 Lhasa in BSk (cold semi-arid (steppe)) in 2071 to 2099, instead of Dwb now. Under the high-emissions scenario (SSP5-8.5) it is BSk (cold semi-arid (steppe)).
Cities with the same climate as Lhasa
Other big cities that are Dwb (warm-summer continental with dry winter) in 1991 to 2020, at most two per country:
- Qingyang, China
- Hegang, China
- Irkutsk, Russia
- Khabarovsk, Russia
Where Lhasa's future climate exists today
In the SSP2-4.5 map for 2071 to 2099, Lhasa is BSk. These cities are BSk in 1991 to 2020, so they give a rough idea of the future climate (the real conditions would differ in many ways).
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Population of Lhasa from GeoNames: 867,900 (rank 670 in our list of 1,000). Climate data: Beck et al. (2023), CC BY 4.0. Data sources and licences.