Afghanistan Climate
Top 5 Cities: Kabul, Kandahar, Herat, Mazar-i-Sharif, and Kunduz
This month in numbers
Afghanistan experienced its 2nd warmest April on record in 2026, with an average temperature of 16.71°C, a significant 4.5°C above the 1961–1990 baseline. This places Afghanistan as the 8th warmest country globally for the month, highlighting a regional warming trend. The global land temperature for April 2026 also ranked as the 2nd warmest on record, at 14.96°C, an anomaly of +1.1°C.
What changed
The period of February to April 2026 saw Afghanistan record its 8th warmest three-month stretch on record, with an average temperature of 8.45°C, which is 2.5°C above the long-term average. This warming trend in Afghanistan aligns with a broader global pattern, as the global land temperature for the same three-month period ranked as the 2nd warmest on record. Afghanistan has a long-term warming trend of +1.78°C compared to the 1961–1990 baseline.
What’s driving change?
The significant warming experienced in Afghanistan is influenced by several factors, including the broader trend of land warming faster than the ocean. The country is also currently experiencing a drought event that began in October 2024 and is ongoing. This drought represents 100% of the drought events logged for Afghanistan over the past 12 months, indicating an unusual concentration. In late March and early April 2026, Afghanistan was hit by widespread and severe flooding, landslides, and lightning strikes across most of its provinces, resulting in at least 148 fatalities and affecting over 73,300 people. This extreme weather event destroyed thousands of homes and damaged critical infrastructure, including roads. More information on active extreme weather events can be found at Extreme Weather tracker.
Looking ahead
Below-average precipitation is most likely in Afghanistan during the forecast period of May 4-11, 2026.
Generated by Gemini from climate data and web sources
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Data Sources
Data Sources for Afghanistan
Every figure on this page is sourced from official, openly published climate datasets. Anomalies are calculated against the 1961–1990 baseline (temperature) and 1991–2020 (rainfall, sunshine, frost) - see the Methodology & Sources page for the complete dataset list and update calendar.
FAQs
FAQs
How is the climate in Afghanistan changing?
Afghanistan is warming in line with the rest of the world. The page above shows the latest monthly temperature anomaly versus the 1961-1990 baseline, the long-term annual trend, and the region's rank in the historical record. The trend rate is shown as °C per decade in the headline panel; you can also see the warmest and coolest years on file.
Where does the climate data for Afghanistan come from?
Climate data for Afghanistan comes from Our World in Data, sourcing Copernicus ERA5 and HadCRUT5 (national temperature anomaly) and the Global Carbon Project via Our World in Data (CO₂ emissions), refreshed every month, when the upstream temperature and rainfall data are refreshed.
What is the climate baseline used on this page?
Anomalies on this page are calculated against the 1961-1990 climatological baseline, which is the standard reference period used by the Met Office, NOAA, IPCC and most national climate services. Some panels also show the source-native 1901-2000 (NOAA) or 1991-2020 (WMO) baselines for verification. See Methodology & Sources for the full reference.
Which areas does the Afghanistan climate data cover?
The Afghanistan climate profile covers Kabul, Kandahar, Herat, Mazar-i-Sharif and surrounding areas. Temperature, rainfall and emissions data for Afghanistan
How often is the Afghanistan climate update refreshed?
The Afghanistan climate update is refreshed monthly, typically a few days after the previous month closes and the upstream provider (Met Office HadUK-Grid, NOAA Climate at a Glance, Copernicus ERA5 or the Global Carbon Project) publishes its update. See the Climate Rankings for cross-region comparisons.