I-semestr Theme: introducing

15.Theme: THE CLIMATE OF UZBEKISTAN

Uzbekistan has a warm, sharply continental and very arid climate. As the other Central Asian republics, it has an abundance of solar heat. The surface of the earth which absorbs much of the radiation becomes considerably heated. The temperature of the top soil which is almost devoid of vegetation in the plains frequently rises to 60 and the temperature of the air over it climbs to 40-45 at noontime in the summer months. There is considerable difference between summer and winter temperatures and sudden sharp changes in the weather. The unstable, fairly cold winter abruptly gives way to a worm, rainy spring which in turn is replaced by a dry summer. The change from autumn to winter is also abrupt. It is long and cloudless. The first autumn frosts come at the end of October. The hot summer lasts from the end of May to October and it has stable, dry weather.

In contrast to summer, the relatively short winter is characterized by capricious weather. The frequent alternation of warm and cold air masses causes considerably fluctuations in temperature and air humidity. The sky is often overcast and it rains and snows occasionally.

Spring begins in the latter half of February or the first day of March. In the plains it lasts not more then a month, but in the mountains it lasts for more then three months.