Turkmenistan has a cold desert climate that is severely continental. Summers are long (from May through September), hot, and dry, while winters generally are mild and dry, although occasionally cold and damp in the north. Most precipitation falls between January and May; precipitation is slight throughout the country, with annual averages ranging from in the Kopet Dag to in the northwest. The capital, Ashgabat, close to the Iranian border in south-central Turkmenistan, averages of rainfall annually. Average annual temperatures range from in Ashgabat to in Daşoguz, on the Uzbek border in north-central Turkmenistan. The almost constant winds are northerly, northeasterly, or westerly.