Climatology
This page presents Mongolia's climate context for the current climatology, 1991-2020, derived from observed, historical data. Information should be used to build a strong understanding of current climate conditions in order to appreciate future climate scenarios and projected change. You can visualize data for the current climatology through spatial variation, the seasonal cycle, or as a time series. Analysis is available for both annual and seasonal data. Data presentation defaults to national-scale aggregation, however sub-national data aggregations can be accessed by clicking within a country, on a sub-national unit. Other historical climatologies can be selected from the Time Period dropdown list.
Observed, historical data is produced by the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) of University of East Anglia. Data is presented at a 0.5º x 0.5º (50km x 50km) resolution.
Mongolia has a strongly continental climate, with four fluctuations of temperatures, low precipitation and marked regional variations depending on latitude and altitude. Average temperatures range between around -4°C and -8°C in and between mountain ranges climbing to around 2°C in the steppe desert region and around 6°C in the southern desert bordering China. Temperature varies dramatically throughout the year. Historically maximum temperatures have peaked at around 24°C in July, while January minimum temperatures drop to around -28°C. Annual precipitation rarely exceeds 400 mm and is typically much lower in the south and central desert and steppe regions. In the Gobi Desert, annual rainfall is only 40 mm. Nationally, an estimated 85% of precipitation falls between April and September. Small inter-annual variations in precipitation can lead to severe drought events, with some regions not experiencing rainfall at all.