Tibet Weather

Although with a latitude approximately the same with the Yangtze River drainage area, Tibet has a temperature much lower than the latter for the high terrain of the Tibet Plateau. For instance, the annual average temperature and temperature in the hottest month in Lhasa and Xigaze are both 10-15 degrees Centigrade lower than that in cities like Chongqing, Wuhan and Shanghai. In Tibet, the annual temperature difference is small while the daily difference are huge. The annual difference in temperature is 18-20 degrees Centigrade in Lhasa, Qamdo and Xigaze, compared with 26 degrees Centigrade in Wuhan (in central China) and Nanjing (in east China). Average daily difference in temperature is 14-16 degrees Centigrade in Lhasa, Qamdo and Xigaze, compared to 7 degrees Centigrade in Chengdu (in west China), Changsha (central China) and Nanchang (in central China). The daily difference in temperature reaches 18.2 degrees Centigrade in Tingri of Tibet or 2.5 times that of Nanchang city that is located at the same latitude. Ngari, with an elevation of more than 5,000 meters, is over 10 degrees Centigrade in August but the temperature drops to below zero at night. The atmospheric temperature in Lhasa, Xigaze and some other areas in the Yarlung Zangbo River valley reaches 27-29 degrees centigrade at noon in June, but drops to 5 degrees centigrade at night.

Small difference in annual temperature and large difference in daily temperature constitute a boon for winter crops to tide over the winter. This is why the Tibetans grow winter wheat and highland barley in large areas.

Dry and Rainy Seasons
Precipitation is unevenly distributed in various parts of Tibet, resulting in the clear-cutting difference between dry and rainy seasons. Climate in Tibet changes from southeast to northwest from tropical mountainous monsoon humid climate to sub-tropical mountainous humid climate, to plateau temperate monsoon semi-humid and semi-dry climate, to plateau sub-cold monsoon semi-humid, semi-dry and dry climate and to plateau cold monsoon dry climate.