Climate of Armenia

Armenia's different varieties of climates depend on the absolute height of the land. They vary from cold desert on the lower parts of the Ararat plain, to tundra on mountain peaks. The following six basic types can be distinguished. Another type of climate is the dry continental type. It prevails along the middle reaches of the Arax up to an elevation of 1,300 m. It differs from the dry subtropical climate by its cold winters.

Armenia map of Köppen climate classification.

Tundra climate, at the northern peak of Mt. Aragats.

Cold desert climate, at Goravan Sands Sanctuary.

History

According to historical sources, in ancient times the winter was the same as it is today, fairly cold in the Armenian lowlands and high in the mountains. 4th century B.C. Greek historian Xenophon, in his Anabasis (The Retreat of the 10,000), which describes the retreat of 10,000 Greek mercenaries through the Armenian mountains into the autumn, related that at night, when the soldiers were asleep, snow fell in the mountains and covered the men and their weapons. He wrote that the snow that fell in one night was about one meter deep. In the same work he noted that the Armenians protected themselves against the freezing frost by rubbing fat or almond oil into their bodies. Armenian historian Movses Khorenatsi (5th century A. D.) described the climate of the Ararat plain as hot and dry in the summer.

Human settlement	Height	Precipitation (mm)	Daily mean °C	Average snow depth	Maximum snow depth	Minimum snow depth	Days of snow	Humidity %
Bagratashen	453	444	11.7	—	—	—	—	72
Ijevan	732	563	10.6	10	28	1	38	73
Vanadzor	1350	586	7.4	17	38	3	72	71
Stepanavan	1397	683	6.6	19	53	4	73	73
Tashir	1507	713	5.8	17	37	2	72	75
Spitak	1552	439	7.1	12	56	2	63	69
Chambarak	1861	557	4.8	16	37	5	102	74
Meghri	627	259	13.8	5	27	0	21	61
Kapan	705	544	11.5	10	32	2	34	71
Artashat	829	235	11.1	10	44	0	39	65
Armavir	861	244	11.3	10	42	0	45	60
Yerevan	942	316	11.4	12	46	0	44	60
Eghvard	1317	407	9.8	28	68	0	74	62
Areni	1009	357	11.8	14	—	—	40	56
Eghegnadzor	1267	398	10.8	18	—	—	50	66
Sisian	1580	365	6.6	12	34	3	73	68
Gyumri	1556	477	5.8	26	61	4	96	70
Talin	1582	435	7.9	24	64	2	82	59
Artik	1750	516	5.8	22	51	5	95	66
Fantan	1798	640	6.0	50	79	13	124	66
Aparan	1291	651	4.3	56	92	10	125	69
Sevan	1936	556	4.0	36	83	3	136	74
Mets Mazra	1940	390	4.2	21	35	7	109	69
Martuni	1995	457	5.6	26	75	2	98	67
Yankh	2334	488	2.7	64	102	33	160	72
Paghakn (Shurabad)	2004	574	1.8	53	81	17	138	74
Aragats (mount)	3329	1065	-2.7	166	235	66	252	73[1]

See also

• Geography of Armenia

References

1. https://web.archive.org/web/20040725083929/http://www.unccd.int/actionprogrammes/centraleu/national/2002/armenia-eng.pdf

External links

• Blizzard sweeps up Armenia, temperatures go subzero