Datong, China climate

BSk Cold semi-arid

Datong has a strongly seasonal cool-temperate climate (Cold semi-arid, Köppen BSk). The hottest month is July with an average daily high near 29°C, while the coldest is January averaging around −17°C at night. Precipitation totals about 382 mm a year and is strongly seasonal — July alone averages 100 mm while January barely receives 2 mm.

☀️ Summers

Warm

Highs near 29°C in July.

About 13 days a year above 32 °C

❄️ Winters

Bitterly cold

Lows near −17°C in January.

About 157 freezing nights a year

🌧️ Rain

Fairly dry

About 382 mm of rain a year.

Wettest in July

⛅ Sky & trend

Partly cloudy

A roughly even mix of sun and cloud.

+0.5 °C vs 50 years ago

Temperature & precipitation

Daily high–low temperature range with the monthly average, plus monthly precipitation · 1991–2020 normals · hover a month for the exact figures

Clear vs cloudy days

Share of days each month that are clear, partly cloudy or cloudy · 1991–2020 · hover a month for the day counts

Datong climate normals (1991–2020)

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Avg high (°C)	−3	2	9	17	24	28	29	27	23	15	6	−1
Avg temp (°C)	−10	−5	2	10	16	21	23	21	16	8	0	−8
Avg low (°C)	−17	−13	−6	2	8	14	17	15	9	1	−7	−14
Precipitation (mm)	2	3	10	20	31	53	100	74	58	21	8	2

Jan – Jun	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun
Avg high (°C)	−3	2	9	17	24	28
Avg temp (°C)	−10	−5	2	10	16	21
Avg low (°C)	−17	−13	−6	2	8	14
Precipitation (mm)	2	3	10	20	31	53

Jul – Dec	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Avg high (°C)	29	27	23	15	6	−1
Avg temp (°C)	23	21	16	8	0	−8
Avg low (°C)	17	15	9	1	−7	−14
Precipitation (mm)	100	74	58	21	8	2

How often — frequency of weather events

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Days with measurable rain (days)	2	2	3	4	7	10	12	11	9	5	3	1
Days with high ≥ 32°C (days)	—	—	—	0.1	1	4	5	2	0.3	—	—	—
Days with low ≤ 0°C (days)	29	26	25	10	0.5	—	—	—	0.4	12	26	29

Jan – Jun	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun
Days with measurable rain (days)	2	2	3	4	7	10
Days with high ≥ 32°C (days)	—	—	—	0.1	1	4
Days with low ≤ 0°C (days)	29	26	25	10	0.5	—

Jul – Dec	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Days with measurable rain (days)	12	11	9	5	3	1
Days with high ≥ 32°C (days)	5	2	0.3	—	—	—
Days with low ≤ 0°C (days)	—	—	0.4	12	26	29

Sky & atmosphere

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Cloud cover (%)	45	50	51	55	57	63	62	56	52	42	40	41
Clear days (≤ 30% cloud)	11	8	9	7	7	5	5	7	9	14	14	14
Partly cloudy days (30–70%)	15	13	13	13	12	12	12	13	11	9	10	12
Cloudy days (≥ 70%)	5	7	9	11	12	13	14	11	10	8	6	5
Relative humidity (%)	66	57	47	42	41	48	59	63	60	59	62	66
Wind speed (mph)	5.8	6.4	7.3	7.9	7.2	5.5	4.5	4.1	4.6	5.5	6.1	6.4

Jan – Jun	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun
Cloud cover (%)	45	50	51	55	57	63
Clear days (≤ 30% cloud)	11	8	9	7	7	5
Partly cloudy days (30–70%)	15	13	13	13	12	12
Cloudy days (≥ 70%)	5	7	9	11	12	13
Relative humidity (%)	66	57	47	42	41	48
Wind speed (mph)	5.8	6.4	7.3	7.9	7.2	5.5

Jul – Dec	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Cloud cover (%)	62	56	52	42	40	41
Clear days (≤ 30% cloud)	5	7	9	14	14	14
Partly cloudy days (30–70%)	12	13	11	9	10	12
Cloudy days (≥ 70%)	14	11	10	8	6	5
Relative humidity (%)	59	63	60	59	62	66
Wind speed (mph)	4.5	4.1	4.6	5.5	6.1	6.4

Methodology & sources

Temperature & precipitation — 1991–2020 normals computed from 29 years of daily observations at Datong, a weather station, about 4 km from the city centre. The underlying daily records come from NOAA's global station network.

Cloud, humidity, wind & sunshine — modelled estimates from NASA POWER, NASA's satellite-and-reanalysis climatology. This is the standard global source for atmospheric variables, which are not measured at most weather stations.

How we build these numbers →