What a Dwc climate is like
Dwc Subarctic with dry winter. A cold climate with a dry winter and a brief summer, found in central and eastern Asia and at altitude.
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.
- Cold summer: not hot or warm, and the coldest month is not below -38 °C.
Dataset wording: "Cold, dry winter, cold 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; c: Not (a, b or d).
Subarctic climate with a dry winter has short, cool summers and long, cold, dry winters. The cold is intense but the air is dry and snowfall is light. Boreal forest and tough grassland cover the land, and the growing season is brief. People dress in thick, layered clothes and build with heavy insulation.
How much of the world is Dwc?
- 2%of the world's land outside Antarctica, 1991 to 2020
- 2,752,369 km²area, 1991 to 2020
- 22cities of 15,000 or more people (GeoNames) have this climate now
In 1901 to 1930 it covered 2.4% of that land, so its area then was 15.02% larger than in 1991 to 2020.
How the Dwc area is projected to change by 2071 to 2099
These figures compare the area of Dwc 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) | 2.4% | +15.02% |
| 1991 to 2020 (now) | 2% | - |
| 2071 to 2099, SSP1-2.6 (low emissions) | 1.8% | -10.73% |
| 2071 to 2099, SSP2-4.5 (middle of the road) | 1.7% | -18.49% |
| 2071 to 2099, SSP5-8.5 (high emissions) | 1.3% | -37.9% |
Shares are of land outside Antarctica. A negative change means the zone shrinks.
What happens to today's Dwc land
Of the land that is Dwc in 1991 to 2020, this is how much stays Dwc and where the rest ends up in 2071 to 2099, by scenario:
| Scenario (2071 to 2099) | Stays Dwc | Where the rest goes (biggest first) |
|---|---|---|
| SSP1-2.6, low emissions | 67% | Dwb (19%), Dfc (11%), BSk (1.5%), Dfb (1.3%) |
| SSP2-4.5, middle of the road | 49% | Dwb (31%), Dfc (13%), Dfb (3.2%), BSk (3.2%) |
| SSP5-8.5, high emissions | 21% | Dwb (29%), Dwa (21%), Dfc (12%), BSk (6.5%), Dfb (4.7%) |
Looking back, 83% of today's Dwc land was also Dwc in 1901 to 1930. The rest was ET (6.3%), Dwd (6%), Dfc (3.3%), BSk (0.8%), Dfd (0.7%).
Where Dwc is found
The countries with the most Dwc land in 1991 to 2020:
| Country | Area | Share of all Dwc | Share of the country |
|---|---|---|---|
| Russia | 1,892,780 km² | 69% | 11% |
| China | 507,166 km² | 18% | 5.4% |
| Mongolia | 271,590 km² | 9.9% | 17% |
| United States | 35,637 km² | 1.3% | 0.4% |
| Canada | 15,106 km² | 0.6% | 0.2% |
| India | 9,436 km² | 0.3% | 0.3% |
| North Korea | 7,027 km² | 0.3% | 5.8% |
| Nepal | 5,626 km² | 0.2% | 3.8% |
Places with a Dwc climate today
The biggest cities in the 1991 to 2020 map that sit in Dwc (at most two per country):
- Yushu, China
- Erdenet, Mongolia
- Neryungri, Russia
- Maqin County, China
- Nalayh, Mongolia
- Tynda, Russia
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
- 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 Dwc 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. Cold summer: not hot or warm, and the coldest month is not 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 dry winter climate like?
Short, cool summers and long, cold, dry winters. A cold climate with a dry winter and a brief summer, found in central and eastern Asia and at altitude.
How much of the world has a Dwc climate?
2% of the world's land outside Antarctica was Dwc in 1991 to 2020, about 2,752,369 km² (Beck et al. 2023, 1 km maps).
Will the Dwc climate zone grow or shrink?
Under the middle-of-the-road scenario (SSP2-4.5), the area of Dwc in 2071 to 2099 is 18.49% 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.