Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, sits in a valley of the Gissar range in the west of the country at around 800 metres above sea level, ringed by the mountains of Central Asia at approximately 38.56°N, 68.79°E. Its deep interior position gives it a Mediterranean-influenced continental climate (Köppen Csa/Dsa) — hot, bone-dry summers and cool, wet winters.

Summer, from June to August, is hot and utterly dry, with July the warmest month — average highs around 35–36°C — tempered by very low humidity and by cool air draining down from the mountains at night. Rain is essentially absent for months, and the sun shines almost every day beneath brilliantly clear skies.

Winter, from December to February, is cool and the wettest season, with January the coolest month — average highs around 8–10°C and nights near -1 to -3°C, with frost frequent and occasional snow that rarely lies long in the valley. Most of the year's rain falls in these months and in early spring, and the surrounding peaks stand deep in snow.

Dushanbe receives around 550–650 mm of precipitation a year — more than most of arid Central Asia, thanks to the mountains — concentrated between December and April, with a clear March and April maximum, while the summer is completely rainless. Live rainfall, humidity, and pressure readings for the city are shown in the panels above.

Dushanbe has an unusual rainfall pattern for Central Asia: wet in winter and spring, bone-dry in summer, a Mediterranean-style rhythm driven by westerly systems that the mountains capture. The Pamirs and Gissar peaks around it store that precipitation as snow and ice, feeding the rivers on which the whole of Central Asia depends.

To follow any single measurement in Dushanbe more closely, use our live instruments: the online barometer for atmospheric pressure, the thermometer for temperature, the hygrometer for humidity, the anemometer for wind speed, the wind vane for wind direction, and the rain gauge for rainfall.