Eastern Turkey was hottest, coldest in 2021
People walk on the street amid snowfall, in Van, eastern Turkey, Jan. 13, 2022. (AA PHOTO)


The Minister of Environment, Urban Planning and Climate Change Murat Kurum announced a report on extreme weather in Turkey in 2021. In a written statement on Thursday, Kurum said Cizre district of Şırnak in southeastern Turkey had the highest temperature, at 49.1 degrees Celsius (120 degrees Fahrenheit), on July 20, while Bezirhane village in the eastern province of Van had the lowest temperature at minus 39.2 degrees Celsius (minus 38 degrees Fahrenheit) on Jan. 23.

Kemer, a popular resort town in the Mediterranean province of Antalya, which recently grappled with heavy rainfall, had the precipitation record, with 396.1 kilos of rainfall per square meter (15.5 inches of rain) on Dec. 31, in Ovacık village near the town.

Kirapit Hill in Bahçesaray district of Van had the highest snow rate, which reached to 200 centimeters (about 78 inches) on Feb. 21. The strongest winds were recorded in Bolkar Mountain in central province of Niğde, at 176 kilometers per hour (about 109 miles per hours).

Seawater temperatures were the highest in Antalya, at 33 degrees Celsius on Sept. 6 while it was the lowest, at 3.4 degrees Celsius, off the coast of Çanakkale on Jan. 11.

Turkey faces the fallout of climate change, with disasters worsened by the global phenomenon, from forest fires to floods. 2020 ranked as the second worst year for weather disasters in the country.