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Climate & Weather in Dunhuang

Dunhuang, being surrounded by high mountains, has an arid, continental climate. The annual average temperature is 9.48 °C (49.1 °F), but the monthly daily mean temperature ranges from 24.6 °C (76.3 °F) in July down to −8.3 °C (17.1 °F) in January. The city is extremely hot in summer and cold in winter, and usually has sharp temperature differences between day and night. Precipitation occurs only in trace amounts and quickly evaporates.

Climate data for Dunhuang (1971−2010)
MonthJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecYear
Average high °C (°F) −0.8
(30.6)
4.9
(40.8)
12.7
(54.9)
21.2
(70.2)
27.0
(80.6)
30.9
(87.6)
32.7
(90.9)
31.7
(89.1)
26.8
(80.2)
18.8
(65.8)
8.4
(47.1)
0.6
(33.1)
17.9
(64.2)
Average low °C (°F) −14.6
(5.7)
−10.5
(13.1)
−3.2
(26.2)
4.1
(39.4)
9.6
(49.3)
13.9
(57)
16.4
(61.5)
14.6
(58.3)
8.5
(47.3)
0.6
(33.1)
−5.5
(22.1)
−12
(10.4)
1.8
(35.2)
Precipitation mm (inches) 0.8
(0.031)
0.8
(0.031)
2.1
(0.083)
2.4
(0.094)
2.4
(0.094)
8.0
(0.315)
15.2
(0.598)
6.3
(0.248)
1.5
(0.059)
0.8
(0.031)
1.3
(0.051)
0.8
(0.031)
42.4
(1.666)
Avg. precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) 1.5 0.9 1.2 1.3 1.3 3.7 4.8 2.6 0.9 0.5 1.1 1.3 21.1
 % humidity 52 40 35 31 33 42 45 45 45 45 51 55 43.3
Mean monthly sunshine hours 219.0 218.6 254.9 282.4 320.2 313.6 318.9 316.1 296.1 280.8 230.4 206.8 3,257.8
Source: China Meteorological Administration