Climate averages 1991–2020
Beijing weather
in December.
A cold, very dry month: the 11th warmest and the 2nd driest of the year.
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
December is a cold month in Beijing: daytime highs average 3.1°C and nights cool to about -6.2°C. By daytime temperature it is the 11th warmest of the 12 months.
Expect about 3.4 mm of rain on roughly 1 day, which makes December a very dry month (the 2nd driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 9 h 24 min on an average December day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Daxing (20 km away). In December its highs average 3.3°C, about as warm as Beijing, with 3.2 mm of rain.
Among the 884 cities listed in China, Beijing ranks 667th of 884 for the warmest December highs and joint 65th of 884 for the driest December (rainfall, lowest first). The mean December high of those 884 cities is 7.5°C; Beijing is 4.4°C cooler than that mean.
From December to January, average highs fall by 1.1°C to 2.1°C, and monthly rainfall falls from 3.4 mm to 2.8 mm.
The annual picture
December in context
Monthly rainfall
Average total · mmAverages from hourly ERA5 reanalysis data. Actual weather varies from year to year. How these numbers are calculated
Every month, side by side
Beijing climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Rainfall mm/month | Rain days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 2.1°C-8.0°C | -8.0°C | 2.8 | 0.8 | 9.710 h |
| February | 6.1°C-5.3°C | -5.3°C | 5.1 | 1.3 | 10.711 h |
| March | 13.3°C-0.7°C | -0.7°C | 8.9 | 2.3 | 11.912 h |
| April | 21.5°C6.8°C | 6.8°C | 19 | 3.9 | 13.213 h |
| May | 28.1°C13.8°C | 13.8°C | 35 | 5.0 | 14.414 h |
| June | 31.8°C19.4°C | 19.4°C | 74 | 7.8 | 14.915 h |
| July | 31.8°C22.2°C | 22.2°C | 160 | 12.8 | 14.715 h |
| August | 30.2°C20.9°C | 20.9°C | 119 | 10.5 | 13.714 h |
| September | 26.3°C15.2°C | 15.2°C | 56 | 7.1 | 12.512 h |
| October | 19.3°C7.4°C | 7.4°C | 33 | 4.3 | 11.211 h |
| November | 10.0°C-1.2°C | -1.2°C | 14 | 2.1 | 10.010 h |
| December, selected | 3.1°C-6.2°C | -6.2°C | 3.4 | 1.0 | 9.49 h |
Rainfall is the average of the 30 separate monthly totals. A rain day is a local calendar day with at least 1 mm of precipitation. Daylight is the calculated sunrise-to-sunset length, not measured sunshine.
Compare places
December in nearby cities
- Daxing in DecemberChina · 20 kmHigh 3.3°C · Low -6.0°C · 3.2 mm rain
- Tongzhou in DecemberChina · 23 kmHigh 3.0°C · Low -6.1°C · 3.2 mm rain
- Mentougou in DecemberChina · 26 kmHigh 3.2°C · Low -6.0°C · 3.7 mm rain
- Liangxiang in DecemberChina · 30 kmHigh 3.3°C · Low -6.0°C · 3.2 mm rain
- Shunyi in DecemberChina · 32 kmHigh 2.7°C · Low -6.6°C · 3.2 mm rain
- Changping in DecemberChina · 37 kmHigh 2.6°C · Low -6.6°C · 4.5 mm rain
- Fangshan in DecemberChina · 42 kmHigh 3.5°C · Low -5.7°C · 3.4 mm rain
- Langfang in DecemberChina · 51 kmHigh 3.3°C · Low -5.3°C · 3.3 mm rain
Read the numbers correctly
Climate, not a promise.
These patterns help compare months. They cannot tell you the weather on a specific day of your trip.
Sources, method and limitsHow these numbers are made (what the highs, lows and rain days mean, the sources and the model cell used for Beijing) is explained once on the Beijing year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.