Home › Cities › China › Lanzhou
Lanzhou, China climate
BSk Cold semi-arid
Lanzhou has a strongly seasonal cool-temperate climate (Cold semi-arid, Köppen BSk). The hottest month is July with an average daily high near 30°C, while the coldest is January averaging around −10°C at night. Precipitation totals about 296 mm a year and is strongly seasonal — July alone averages 67 mm while December barely receives 1 mm.
Temperature & precipitation
Daily high–low temperature range with the monthly average, plus monthly precipitation · 1991–2020 normals · hover a month for the exact figuresClear vs cloudy days
Share of days each month that are clear, partly cloudy or cloudy · 1991–2020 · hover a month for the day countsLanzhou climate normals (1991–2020)
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avg high (°C) | 2 | 7 | 13 | 20 | 25 | 28 | 30 | 28 | 23 | 17 | 10 | 3 |
| Avg temp (°C) | −4 | 1 | 7 | 13 | 18 | 21 | 23 | 22 | 18 | 11 | 4 | −2 |
| Avg low (°C) | −10 | −5 | 1 | 6 | 11 | 15 | 17 | 16 | 12 | 5 | −2 | −8 |
| Precipitation (mm) | 2 | 2 | 7 | 13 | 37 | 45 | 67 | 62 | 37 | 22 | 2 | 1 |
| Jan – Jun | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avg high (°C) | 2 | 7 | 13 | 20 | 25 | 28 |
| Avg temp (°C) | −4 | 1 | 7 | 13 | 18 | 21 |
| Avg low (°C) | −10 | −5 | 1 | 6 | 11 | 15 |
| Precipitation (mm) | 2 | 2 | 7 | 13 | 37 | 45 |
| Jul – Dec | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avg high (°C) | 30 | 28 | 23 | 17 | 10 | 3 |
| Avg temp (°C) | 23 | 22 | 18 | 11 | 4 | −2 |
| Avg low (°C) | 17 | 16 | 12 | 5 | −2 | −8 |
| Precipitation (mm) | 67 | 62 | 37 | 22 | 2 | 1 |
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 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 0.5 |
| Days with high ≥ 32°C (days) | — | — | — | 0.3 | 0.7 | 4 | 9 | 5 | 0.6 | — | — | — |
| Days with low ≤ 0°C (days) | 29 | 25 | 13 | 2 | 0.3 | — | — | — | — | 3 | 21 | 29 |
| Jan – Jun | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Days with measurable rain (days) | 2 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 7 |
| Days with high ≥ 32°C (days) | — | — | — | 0.3 | 0.7 | 4 |
| Days with low ≤ 0°C (days) | 29 | 25 | 13 | 2 | 0.3 | — |
| Jul – Dec | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Days with measurable rain (days) | 10 | 9 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 0.5 |
| Days with high ≥ 32°C (days) | 9 | 5 | 0.6 | — | — | — |
| Days with low ≤ 0°C (days) | — | — | — | 3 | 21 | 29 |
Sky & atmosphere
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cloud cover (%) | 46 | 53 | 61 | 64 | 68 | 70 | 65 | 64 | 67 | 56 | 39 | 37 |
| Clear days (≤ 30% cloud) | 11 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 9 | 15 | 15 |
| Partly cloudy days (30–70%) | 13 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 12 |
| Cloudy days (≥ 70%) | 7 | 9 | 14 | 14 | 17 | 17 | 15 | 15 | 16 | 13 | 6 | 5 |
| Relative humidity (%) | 58 | 55 | 49 | 45 | 46 | 51 | 57 | 60 | 63 | 61 | 56 | 56 |
| Wind speed (km/h) | 6.0 | 7.1 | 8.4 | 8.9 | 9.0 | 7.9 | 7.6 | 7.3 | 6.9 | 6.1 | 5.8 | 5.8 |
| Jan – Jun | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cloud cover (%) | 46 | 53 | 61 | 64 | 68 | 70 |
| Clear days (≤ 30% cloud) | 11 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 |
| Partly cloudy days (30–70%) | 13 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 11 |
| Cloudy days (≥ 70%) | 7 | 9 | 14 | 14 | 17 | 17 |
| Relative humidity (%) | 58 | 55 | 49 | 45 | 46 | 51 |
| Wind speed (km/h) | 6.0 | 7.1 | 8.4 | 8.9 | 9.0 | 7.9 |
| Jul – Dec | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cloud cover (%) | 65 | 64 | 67 | 56 | 39 | 37 |
| Clear days (≤ 30% cloud) | 5 | 6 | 5 | 9 | 15 | 15 |
| Partly cloudy days (30–70%) | 11 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 12 |
| Cloudy days (≥ 70%) | 15 | 15 | 16 | 13 | 6 | 5 |
| Relative humidity (%) | 57 | 60 | 63 | 61 | 56 | 56 |
| Wind speed (km/h) | 7.6 | 7.3 | 6.9 | 6.1 | 5.8 | 5.8 |
Methodology & sources
Temperature & precipitation — 1991–2020 normals computed from 18 years of daily observations at Lanzhou, 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.