Climate of China (snow, hot, warmest, ice)

[Mhc1985]

As China is extremely diverse and full of interesting climates, I thought it was a good idea to explore how climate varies throughout the country via an alternative method of viewing consisting of crossing various relevant climate parameters visualized in graphs.

The following graphs include information of 473 weather stations, mostly from the periods of records 1971-2000 or 1981-2010; there are some exceptions for highly unusual climates that lacked stations from the regular periods. I only considered the areas under actual control of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), so I included the Paracel Islands but did not take into account Taiwan.

Graph 1 – Average Temperature (X), Annual Temperature Range (Y), Average Precipitation (color)



It shows two very well defined linear sequences that converge in the lower right corner, corresponding to the insular Tropical south of China (Hainan Province). From this region, the Eastern side of the country develops uninterruptedly northwards up to the Subarctic Continental Heilongjiang Province, as it is seen in the upper line. There is an outstanding highway from Xisha Dao’s (Paracel Island) 27°C with an annual range of 6°C to Mohe’s -4°C with an annual range of freaking 48°C. All main cities of China occur somewhere within this line.

The lower line reflects the more subtle Southeast to Southwest transition, marked by the increasing altitude at similar latitude, showing the fall in temperature but a much lighter increasing in amplitude. This is the realm of the Subtropical Highlands, typical of Yunnan Province. Wudaoliang, at 4600 meters above the sea level, is the coldest station of the collection. Averaging -5°C and having very cool summers, it experiences an Alpine Tundra climate. Considering that China rises up to almost 9000 m, Ice Cap climates are widespread in the higher elevations, and the average temperatures may reach about -26°C on the top of Mt Everest.

There is a third group that can only be identified by colors, and corresponds to the plateaus and depressions of the West, with Dry Continental climates. Among them, Turpan and Karamay stand out as the most impressive outliers, and also two of the most unique climates on Earth. Various isolated wet spots are linked to mountain stations dispersed across the Southeastern quarter.

Graph 2 – Average Precipitation (X), Precipitation Seasonality (Y), Average Temperature (color)
Precipitation seasonality is expressed as the percentage of precipitation fallen from April to September (high-sun season)



If the first graph denotes the massive thermal diversity of China, this one shows its weakness: virtually the whole country is dominated by a single circulation pattern. Precipitation is fundamentally monsoonal, peaking in the summer months; more often than not, the seasonality is extreme. Neither Mediterranean nor Oceanic climates exist in China. Furthermore, the ‘warm’ colors only appear from moderately wet areas on, so year-round warm or mild winter Dry climates are absent too. The colder-drier to warmer-wetter pattern is quite evident, only interrupted by the disperse mountain stations from the Southeast quarter. Such areas may locally hit maximums well above 3000 mm a year in perfectly located Eastern slopes.

The bulk of the stations draw a plume with a very curious pattern, very stretched and seasonal in the drier areas, becoming wider in wet areas, where rainfall distribution may also be smoother. Then, it stretches again in the per-humid areas. Some places in Hainan, though, have a very sharp yet late monsoon that extends beyond the high-sun season, therefore in these cases the calculation is flawed.

There are a few spots outside the plume showing both little precipitation and seasonality, all of them located in Xinjiang Province. This very inland region is the only in the country where the relictual Mediterranean influence that extends to Central Asia from the Caucasus can be noticed. The town of Yining (aka Ghulja), located very close to the tri-point border with Kazakhstan and Kirgizstan, in the extreme Northwest of China, is the only station of this collection where the precipitation from April to September averages below the 50% of the annual average.

[Chief Sipwiaac]

Very cool!

[cBach]

It's a shame that all of China is monsoonal. It makes it boring. The USA has almost all climate types.

The lack of a dry summer is the reason Chinese cuisine does not feature tomatoes, grapes, or olives in any form or fashion.

[arcleo]

There are some subtropical highland climates that have a mid-high latitude oceanic temperature profile such as Kunming or Lijiang. Gongshan can be considered Koppen Cfb based on the stated mean temperatures, although if you average the high and low for the warmest month, it will exceed 22C.

Also some mild/warm-winter and relatively dry climates such as Dongfang, Panzhihua, Mengzi, etc. I agree they are rare though.

Here is an interesting sunshine pattern: Tengchong.

Also, in Taiwan there is a climate where summer is the driest season, Keelung. It is due to being very wet outside of summer rather than being dry in summer, but it is interesting nonetheless. I have not found any other climate in East Asia with summer as the driest season.

[Walshie79]

Why had I never heard of Yining? That's the best climate in China by miles; cold but not Siberian like the far north or Mongolia in winter, warm but not stupidly hot like Turpan or Tarim in summer. And what precipitation there is (it's not bone dry) isn't all concentrated in summer which is the Chinese weather curse; there's enough to make sure it snows in winter, and it's sunny all year round.

[klimkin199]

It's a pity that summers in China so hot. I hate sweating. China's cities have great precipitation pattern: wet summer, dry winter. Winters can be sunnier, but I range Northern China's climates from B+ to C-.