Xining weather by month & the best time to visit
🇨🇳 China · alpine / mountain city · continental climate
The best time to visit Xining is May — its sunniest month (Sunshine Score 83/100), with June and September close behind. Xining averages about 2,548 hours of sunshine a year. Daytime highs around 22°C / 72°F and roughly 61 mm of rain in May.
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- Sun hours / year
- 2,548
- Sunniest month
- May
- Peak score
- 83/100
- Rain / year
- 504 mm
- Snow / year
- ≈31 cm
- Midday UV at peak
- 8 (very high)
- Population
- 1.7M
- Elevation
- 2,173 m
When is the best time to visit Xining?
For sunshine, the best time to visit Xining is May, then June and September. The dullest month is January (0/100, 3 mm of rain). The full month-by-month picture is in the table below.
How sunny is Xining?
Xining gets a lot of sun: around 2,548 hours a year. 83 Sunshine Score points separate May (83) from January (0), so the month you pick matters. It ranks #88 of 254 destinations in China for annual sunshine, above the national median of 2,110 hours. Rain has a clear season: the wettest stretch, around August, carries about 58% of the annual 504 mm.
Sunshine Score by month
| Month | Score | Day high | Night low | Rain | UV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 0 | 3° / 37°F | -12° / 10°F | 3 mm | 2 |
| February | 0 | 7° / 45°F | -8° / 18°F | 3 mm | 3 |
| March | 31 | 12° / 54°F | -3° / 27°F | 9 mm | 5 |
| April | 75 | 18° / 64°F | 1° / 34°F | 23 mm | 6 |
| May | 83 | 22° / 72°F | 6° / 43°F | 61 mm | 7 |
| June | 79 | 25° / 77°F | 11° / 52°F | 80 mm | 8 |
| July | 76 | 27° / 81°F | 13° / 55°F | 99 mm | 8 |
| August | 74 | 26° / 79°F | 12° / 54°F | 108 mm | 7 |
| September | 79 | 21° / 70°F | 7° / 45°F | 83 mm | 6 |
| October | 52 | 15° / 59°F | 1° / 34°F | 27 mm | 4 |
| November | 8 | 9° / 48°F | -4° / 25°F | 6 mm | 3 |
| December | 0 | 4° / 39°F | -10° / 14°F | 2 mm | 2 |
See Xining on the interactive sunshine globe →
Nearby places for sunshine
- Lanzhou (Yongdeng) China · 141 km · best in May · 2,679 h sun/yr
- Zhongwei (Shapotou) China · 300 km · best in Apr · 2,978 h sun/yr
- Yinchuan China · 433 km · best in Apr · 3,046 h sun/yr
- Longnan (Cheng) China · 457 km · best in Apr · 1,455 h sun/yr
- Jiayuguan China · 492 km · best in May · 2,993 h sun/yr
- Qingyang (Xifeng) China · 505 km · best in May · 2,060 h sun/yr
Nearest destinations
- Gannan (Xiahe) China · 197 km · 2,557 h sun/yr · best in Jul
- Haibei (Qilian) China · 206 km · 2,890 h sun/yr · best in Jul
- Jinchang China · 226 km · 3,117 h sun/yr · best in May
- Zhangye (Ganzhou) China · 280 km · 2,889 h sun/yr · best in May
- Golog (Maqên) China · 283 km · 2,869 h sun/yr · best in Jul
Head-to-head
How Xining compares month by month: Xining vs Lanzhou (Yongdeng) · Xining vs Yinchuan · Xining vs Zhongwei (Shapotou) · Xining vs Jiayuguan · all comparisons
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