Kashgar features a desert climate with hot summers and cold winters, with large temperature differences between those two seasons: The monthly 24-hour average temperature ranges from -5.3 °C (22.5 °F) in January to 25.6 °C (78.1 °F) in July, while the annual mean is 11.8 °C (53.2 °F). Spring is long and arrives quickly, while fall is somewhat brief in comparison.

Kashgar is one of the driest cities on the planet, averaging only 64 millimetres (2.52 in) of precipitation per year. The city’s wettest month, July, only sees on average 9.1 millimetres (0.36 in) of rain. Because of the extremely arid conditions, snowfall is rare, despite the cold winters. Records have been as low as -24.4 °C (-12 °F) in January and up to 40.1 °C (104.2 °F) in July. The frost-free period averages 215 days.