Climate Trends in China

• In China, the mean number of days with a daily maximum at or above 30 C (86 F) per year at 39 stations rose from 48.8 to 55.1 between the 1960s and the 2010s; the 2020s so far (6 years) average 69.5.
• In China, the mean number of days with a daily maximum at or above 35 C (95 F) per year at 39 stations rose from 7.1 to 9.8 between the 1960s and the 2010s; the 2020s so far (6 years) average 15.7.
• In China, the mean number of days with a daily maximum at or above 40 C (104 F) per year at 39 stations was 0.1 in both between the 1960s and the 2010s; the 2020s so far (6 years) average 0.4.
• In China, the mean number of ice days, with a daily maximum at or below 0 C (32 F) per year at 39 stations fell from 50.7 to 45.1 between the 1960s and the 2010s; the 2020s so far (6 years) average 36.2.

Each measure counts days in complete years only. A station is in a measure's set when it has complete years in every decade from the 1960s, so each chart compares the same places over time. A grey bar is a decade that is not over.

• In China, annual rain at 155 stations is shown as a percent difference from each station's own 1961-1990 mean, for 67 years from 1951 to 2024.
• The trend in annual rain is +0.7 percent per decade (95 percent interval -0.1 to +1.6), fitted to 67 years from 1951 to 2024. The interval includes zero, so the series does not separate a trend from year to year variation.

Annual rain against the 1961-1990 mean

The annual rain series uses stations with at least 50 complete years since 1951 and a 1961-1990 baseline. The decade charts use fixed sets of stations, the same in every decade from the 1960s. A dry day has less than 1 mm (0.04 in) of rain.

• In China, the longest run of hot days in a row in the data is 101 days, at Turpan (China), from 10 May 2008 to 18 August 2008.
• In China, the longest run of days in a row at or above 40 C in the data is 22 days, at Chongqing (China), from 8 August 2022 to 29 August 2022.
• In China, the longest run of frost days in a row in the data is 284 days, at Tuotuohe (China), from 4 September 1979 to 13 June 1980.
• In China, the longest run of ice days in a row in the data is 159 days, at Tulihe (China), from 25 October 1986 to 1 April 1987.
• In China, the longest run of dry days in a row in the data is 286 days, at Turpan (China), in 2000.
• In China, the longest run of wet days in a row in the data is 45 days, at Tengchong (China), in 1974.
• In China, the longest run of longest run of nights at or above 25 c in the data is 142 days, at Xisha Dao (China), from 17 April 2020 to 5 September 2020.

Longest run of days at or above 35 C

Consecutive days with a daily maximum at or above 35 C (95 F).

Longest run of days at or above 40 C

Consecutive days with a daily maximum at or above 40 C (104 F).

Longest run of frost days (minimum at or below 0 C)

Consecutive days with a daily minimum at or below 0 C (32 F).

Longest run of ice days (maximum at or below 0 C)

Consecutive days with a daily maximum at or below 0 C (32 F).

Longest dry spell (days under 1 mm of rain), within one year

Consecutive days with less than 1 mm (0.04 in) of rain, the longest run within a year. The dates are not kept, so the list gives the year (within the year).

Longest wet spell (days with 1 mm or more of rain), within one year

Consecutive days with 1 mm (0.04 in) or more of rain, the longest run within a year. The dates are not kept, so the list gives the year (within the year).

Longest run of nights at or above 25 C

A run belongs to the year it started in, even when it ran on into the next year. A station appears once per list, with its longest run in a complete year. Dry and wet spells are the longest run within a year. Lists use complete years only, so a long run in a year with gaps in the record is not counted.

• In China, the largest reported one day rise in the daily maximum is 22.6 C (40.7 F), at Bijie (China) on 2 February 2019.
• In China, the largest reported one day drop in the daily maximum is 28.0 C (50.4 F), at Altay (China) on 25 November 1987.
• In China, the largest reported one day rise in the daily minimum is 23.5 C (42.3 F), at Shangzhi (China) on 8 February 1966.
• In China, the largest reported one day drop in the daily minimum is 28.8 C (51.8 F), at Fuyun (China) on 17 December 1966.
• In China, the largest reported widest range between the high and the low of one day is 37.1 C (66.8 F), at Hailar (China) on 9 November 1968.
• In China, the smallest reported narrowest range between the high and the low of one day is 0.0 C (0.0 F), at Qingdao (China) on 22 April 1965.

Caveat.Single readings can still be instrument errors that quality control missed. A station with one faulty value can top a list, so read each entry as a reported value, not as a confirmed event.

Biggest one day rise in the daily maximum

The largest increase in the daily maximum temperature from one day to the next. Values are in degrees Celsius with Fahrenheit beside them.

Biggest one day drop in the daily maximum

The largest decrease in the daily maximum temperature from one day to the next. Values are in degrees Celsius with Fahrenheit beside them.

Biggest one day rise in the daily minimum

The largest increase in the daily minimum temperature from one day to the next. Values are in degrees Celsius with Fahrenheit beside them.

Biggest one day drop in the daily minimum

The largest decrease in the daily minimum temperature from one day to the next. Values are in degrees Celsius with Fahrenheit beside them.

Widest range between the high and the low of one day

The largest difference between the highest and the lowest temperature of the same day. Values are in degrees Celsius with Fahrenheit beside them.

Narrowest range between the high and the low of one day

The smallest difference between the highest and the lowest temperature of the same day. Values are in degrees Celsius with Fahrenheit beside them.

Only stations with at least 10 complete years are listed, and a station appears once per list.

• In China, the share of stations with a hot and dry summer is shown for each year from 1951 to 2025, for 200 stations with at least 20 complete summers in 1961-1990. Each year counts the stations of that set with a complete summer in the year.
• In China, 9.1% of station summers in 1961-1990 were hot and dry (5,971 station summers).
• In China, 19.6% of station summers in 2011-2025 were hot and dry (1,197 station summers).
• In China, 2023 had the highest share: 32.7% of 153 stations (50).

A summer is hot when its mean daily maximum is at or above the station's 80th percentile of its 1961-1990 summers, and dry when its rain is at or below the 20th percentile. A summer is hot and dry when it is both. Summer is June to August north of the equator and December to February south of it, labelled by the year of its first month.

Share of stations with a hot and dry summer

The ten most extreme station summers

Ranked by the temperature z score minus the rain z score against the station's own 1961-1990 mean and standard deviation (at least 0.3 C and 5 mm). A summer is labelled by the year of its first month.