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Xi’an has a cold semi-arid climate.
Dry country, big sun, modest rain — here's what that means in plain terms.
What this climate feels like
The four things a regular visitor actually wants to know:
Highs near 91°F in July. About 34 days a year above 90 °F.
Lows near 26°F in January. About 45 freezing nights a year.
About 21 in of rain a year. Wettest in July.
Cloudy skies much of the year.
What "cold semi-arid" means
Climate scientists sort every place on Earth into about 30 climate types, based on how hot, cold, wet and dry it is across the year. Xi’an's type — cold semi-arid — sits in the broad family of dry climates — deserts and steppes.
Researchers write climate types as a short letter code. Here is what each letter means:
Cities with the same climate as Xi’an
A cold semi-arid climate (BSk) — these recognizable cities share it. If you know one of them, you know roughly what to expect.
Xi’an sits near a climate boundary
This city's climate sits within about 1 °C of the next type along. A slightly cooler or warmer decade could change which side of the boundary it lands on — but the lived weather doesn't change at the line.
Has Xi’an's climate type changed?
Stable — Xi’an's climate has held the same type between the 1971–2000 and 1991–2020 normals. The label is steady; the climate beneath it is still warming.
What this climate means for you
Native prairie grasses, hardy conifers and cold-tolerant fruit (apples, cherries) excel. Lawns need irrigation.
Spring through autumn is comfortable; winters are cold and sometimes blustery. Sun is abundant year-round.
Four real seasons, but dry. Cold winters need heating; summers are warm and pleasant by day with cool nights.
Where these numbers come from
The climate type and the month-by-month figures on this page are computed from Xi’an's measured 30-year climate normals (1991–2020) — the same official records behind Xi’an's main climate page, so the two always agree.
Long-range climate maps measure things slightly differently and can place a city in a neighbouring category. Where they differ, this page uses the measured station record as the climate today.
Methodology & sources
Temperature & precipitation — 1991–2020 normals computed from 18 years of daily observations at Xian, a weather station, about 5 km from the city centre. The underlying daily records come from NOAA's global station network.