Lake Balkhash - Climate

Climate

The climate of the lake area is continental. Average temperature is about 30 °C in July and –14 °C in January. Average precipitation is 131 mm per year and the relative humidity is about 60%. Wind, dry climate and high summer temperatures result in high evaporation rate – 950 mm in cold and up to 1200 mm in dry years. Wind has average speed of 4.5–4.8 m/s and blows mainly southward in the western part and to the south-west in the eastern part. The wind induces waves up to 2–3.5 m in height and steady clockwise currents in the western part.

There are 110–130 sunny days per year with the average irradiance of 15.9 MJ/m2 per day. Water temperature at the surface of the lake varies from 0 °C in December to 28 °C in July. The average annual temperature is 10 °C in the western and 9 °C in the eastern parts of the lake. The lake freezes every year between November and early April, and the melting is delayed by some 10–15 days in the eastern part.

Balkhash City
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D
13 −9 −18 10 −8 −18 10 0 −10 11 14 3 15 22 10 12 28 16 10 30 18 8 28 16 4 22 9 9 13 2 14 3 −6 15 −5 −13
Average max. and min. temperatures in °C
Precipitation totals in mm
Imperial conversion
J F M A M J J A S O N D
0.5 15 −1 0.4 17 0 0.4 32 14 0.4 58 37 0.6 72 50 0.5 82 61 0.4 86 65 0.3 82 60 0.2 71 49 0.4 55 35 0.6 37 21 0.6 23 8
Average max. and min. temperatures in °F
Precipitation totals in inches
Water temperature (°C) (data from 1985–1987)
Depth Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Eastern part of the lake
0 – –0.2 0.2 – 13.9 19.0 23.4 23.2 17.2 11.4 – –
10 – 1 – – 10.8 16.7 21.7 22.8 – – – –
20
(near the bottom)		 – 1.7 1.9 – 8.9 13.7 14.6 19.7 17.1 11.5 – –
Western part of the lake, near Balkhash City
0 - 0.0 0.8 6.7 13.3 20.5 24.7 22.7 16.6 7.8 2.0 –
3
(near the bottom)		 – 0.3 2.2 6.5 13.1 19.6 24.1 22.6 16.5 7.4 2.0 –

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