Climate averages 1991–2020
Dunhuang weather
in May.
A warm, very dry month: the 4th warmest and the 10th driest of the year. Meets the pleasant-weather rule
Long-term climate patterns, not a forecast for a particular trip.
May is a warm month in Dunhuang: daytime highs average 27.6°C and nights cool to about 12.6°C. By daytime temperature it is the 4th warmest of the 12 months.
Expect about 4.7 mm of rain on roughly 1 day, which makes May a very dry month (the 10th driest of the 12 months). Daylight, from sunrise to sunset, lasts about 14 h 23 min on an average May day.
The nearest other city in this atlas is Laojunmiao (262 km away). In May its highs average 18.3°C, 9.2°C cooler than Dunhuang, with 28 mm of rain.
Among the 884 cities listed in China, Dunhuang ranks joint 160th of 884 for the warmest May highs and 2nd of 884 for the driest May (rainfall, lowest first). The mean May high of those 884 cities is 25.2°C; Dunhuang is 2.4°C warmer than that mean.
From May to June, average highs rise by 4.8°C to 32.4°C, and monthly rainfall rises from 4.7 mm to 8.0 mm.
The annual picture
May in context
Monthly precipitation
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
Dunhuang climate table
| Month | Average highHigh / low | Average low | Precipitation mm/month | Wet days ≥1 mm/day | Daylight hours/dayDaylight h/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | -1.3°C-10.5°C | -10.5°C | 0.5 | 0.1 | 9.710 h |
| February | 5.3°C-6.0°C | -6.0°C | 0.6 | 0.3 | 10.611 h |
| March | 13.8°C-0.3°C | -0.3°C | 1.7 | 0.5 | 11.912 h |
| April | 22.0°C6.9°C | 6.9°C | 2.2 | 0.7 | 13.213 h |
| May, selected | 27.6°C12.6°C | 12.6°C | 4.7 | 1.0 | 14.414 h |
| June | 32.4°C18.2°C | 18.2°C | 8.0 | 1.6 | 15.015 h |
| July | 34.8°C21.1°C | 21.1°C | 6.5 | 1.4 | 14.715 h |
| August | 33.4°C19.4°C | 19.4°C | 4.6 | 1.0 | 13.814 h |
| September | 27.4°C13.1°C | 13.1°C | 2.5 | 0.5 | 12.512 h |
| October | 18.3°C4.8°C | 4.8°C | 0.8 | 0.4 | 11.211 h |
| November | 7.9°C-2.8°C | -2.8°C | 1.1 | 0.3 | 10.010 h |
| December | -0.3°C-8.7°C | -8.7°C | 1.3 | 0.4 | 9.49 h |
Precipitation (rain or snow, as water) is the average of the 30 separate monthly totals. A wet 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
May in nearby cities
- Laojunmiao in MayChina · 262 kmHigh 18.3°C · Low 6.2°C · 28 mm rain
- Jiayuguan in MayChina · 309 kmHigh 21.8°C · Low 8.8°C · 15 mm rain
- Hami in MayChina · 312 kmHigh 27.3°C · Low 12.8°C · 3.6 mm rain
- Jiuquan in MayChina · 330 kmHigh 21.7°C · Low 8.5°C · 11 mm rain
- Zhangye in MayChina · 513 kmHigh 22.9°C · Low 6.7°C · 13 mm rain
- Turpan in MayChina · 552 kmHigh 31.4°C · Low 17.3°C · 7.3 mm rain
- Jinchang in MayChina · 672 kmHigh 23.3°C · Low 9.5°C · 15 mm rain
- Qiaotou in MayChina · 706 kmHigh 16.4°C · Low 2.3°C · 73 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 Dunhuang) is explained once on the Dunhuang year overview and on the Sources, method and limits page.