Similar Climates › City Pairings › Lhasa ≈ Cusco
City Pairings
loose match
Lhasa, China and Cusco, Peru are a loose climate match — 17,516 km (10,884 mi) apart. Lhasa is Köppen zone BSk; Cusco is Cwb.
See Lhasa on the interactive map →Lhasa is classed cold steppe (BSk) while Cusco is subtropical highland (Cwb) — different Köppen labels, but January and July still land close enough to pair. Because one city is in the opposite hemisphere, the comparison flips seasons: Lhasa’s January against Cusco’s July. They are about 17,516 km (10,884 mi) apart, nearly opposite on the globe, yet Cusco still tracks Lhasa’s January and July.
It is a loose match: useful as a climate analogue for Lhasa, though not a perfect copy. January means differ by 8°C (Cusco warmer); July by 3°C (Cusco cooler). Rainfall shifts more: Cusco is 20 mm wetter in July.
Sunshine stays close: Cusco at 10.1 h/day on average versus 10.2 h/day in Lhasa (January 10.8 h / 10 h, July 9.4 h / 10.4 h). PM2.5 averages stay near each other (5 µg/m³ in Cusco, 7 in Lhasa). Humidity: dew point in Cusco runs about 21°C higher in January (1°C vs -20°C), so the air feels muggier.
January & July · °C and mm
Cusco is in the southern hemisphere, so its July lines up with Lhasa's January — the bars above pair each city's summer and winter, not the calendar month.
Compare Lhasa and Cusco month by month on the interactive map →
See Cusco's climate twin on its own page.
On Similar Climates, Cusco, Peru is the closest distant match for Lhasa, China — scored loose, about 17,516 km (10,884 mi) away.
Lhasa and Cusco are separated by roughly 17,516 km (10,884 mi) on the great-circle route.
No — they sit in opposite hemispheres, so seasons run about six months apart: Cusco’s July pairs with Lhasa’s January in the comparison.
No — Lhasa is cold steppe (BSk) and Cusco is subtropical highland (Cwb), but the January and July numbers still align closely enough to pair.
Lhasa has a cold steppe climate (BSk). January averages a high of 8°C and a low of -9°C with 1 mm of rain; July averages 23°C / 10°C and 125 mm.
Lhasa averages about 10 hours of sunshine a day in January and 10.4 hours in July.
January PM2.5 averages about 9.3 µg/m³ (US AQI 57); July averages 5.4 µg/m³ (US AQI 40).
Other close climate matches for Lhasa: Toluca (loose), Maseru (loose), Puebla (loose).
All cold steppe (BSk) cities on Similar Climates →
Explore Lhasa and Cusco on the interactive map →