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CLIMATE AFGHANISTAN has no coastline and therefore does not benefit from the sea's mild and moist weather, because the sea breezes are blocked by the southern ranges of mountains along the Afghan border, and any precipitation they cause does not penetrate into Afghanistan. This results in mostly a rather dry and hot climate over the southern and south-western lowlands. Similarly, many of the northern winds blowing over Siberia do not reach Afghanistan sufficiently to affect the weather a great deal, although those which do make winter rather severe in many parts of the country. On the other hand, Afghanistan's height above sea level governs the climate considerably. Thus there are areas where the summer months are intensely hot, and there are other places where the weather is extremely mild in summer. Climatically speaking, Afghanistan can be divided into three regions: High regions, regions of intermediate height, and lowlands. The high regions are composed of mountains and river valleys where, generally speaking, the climate is cold and the temperature variation in different seasons is considerable. Places above 7,500ft. generally have longer winters, sometimes extending to about seven months. Nooristan, a large section of Badakhshan and Hazarajat have this kind of weather. (Areas above 12,500ft. are uninhabitable and are usually covered with perpetual snow.) Areas between 4,000 and 7,500ft., such as Kabul, Ghazni, Katawaz, parts of Badakhshan and Hazarajat, the upper Kunar valley and others have a milder climate and four distinctive seasons. Summers are not very hot. Winters can be cold, sometimes reaching -4° F. (-20° C.). The second category includes places at heights between 2,700—4,000ft., such as the northern slopes of the Hindukush, the foothills of the Ghor mountains, Kandahar and the lower valley of Harirud. These places have a hot summer, but their winter is not very cold, the temperature reaching to about +14° F. (-10° C.). The lowlands are areas lower than 2,700ft. and include parts of northern Afghanistan, the entire south-western part and the lower Kabul valley. The summer temperature is extreme, reaching about 120° F. (48.4° C.) in the sun. The nights and winter temperatures are warm. The rainfall is the lowest there. To the south- A farm in Nouristan.