Shangri-La climate

Name: Shangri-La
Address: CN

Shangri-La is warmest in June, with average highs of 18 °C, and coldest in January, when nights average -8.1 °C. July is the wettest month (242 mm) and December the driest (13 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.

Across a full year Shangri-La averages 1,162 mm of rain and 142 days below freezing.

China · population 186,400 · 1991–2020 normals

Temperature below 0 °C to above 30 °C Rain band height is that month’s share of the wettest month

Warmest month June 18 °C
Coldest month January -8.1 °C
Driest month December 13 mm
Wettest month July 242 mm
Least cloud December 38 % cloud
Hottest on record August 23 °C
Coldest on record January -26 °C

What to expectShangri-La through the year

Shangri-La has a clear annual cycle: average daily highs run from 2.7 °C in January to 18 °C in June, a swing of 17 °C in mean temperature across the year.

Counted across a normal year, 142 nights drop below freezing. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 23 °C, in August.

Rain is strongly seasonal. July averages 242 mm against 13 mm in December — 19 times as much. Planning around the dry months matters more here than planning around temperature.

Month by month

Month	Avg high	Rainfall	Cloud
January	2.7 °C	34 mm	50 %
February	3.3 °C	43 mm	58 %
March	6.5 °C	64 mm	64 %
April	10.9 °C	65 mm	70 %
May	15.2 °C	100 mm	72 %
June	17.6 °C	144 mm	86 %
July	17.6 °C	242 mm	93 %
August	17.6 °C	227 mm	89 %
September	16.1 °C	142 mm	84 %
October	13.0 °C	66 mm	61 %
November	8.9 °C	22 mm	44 %
December	5.6 °C	13 mm	38 %

Temperature month by month

Month	Avg high	Avg low	Mean	Record high	Record low	Days below 0 °C
January	2.7 °C	-8.1 °C	-2.7 °C	13.2 °C	-25.9 °C	31
February	3.3 °C	-6.9 °C	-1.5 °C	12.6 °C	-22.2 °C	28
March	6.5 °C	-2.7 °C	1.8 °C	15.8 °C	-21.1 °C	26
April	10.9 °C	1.3 °C	5.9 °C	19.3 °C	-10.3 °C	8
May	15.2 °C	6.1 °C	10.3 °C	21.0 °C	-4.3 °C	0
June	17.6 °C	10.1 °C	13.4 °C	22.3 °C	3.0 °C	0
July	17.6 °C	11.1 °C	13.9 °C	21.8 °C	4.4 °C	0
August	17.6 °C	10.6 °C	13.7 °C	23.0 °C	4.7 °C	0
September	16.1 °C	9.2 °C	12.2 °C	21.3 °C	-0.5 °C	0
October	13.0 °C	4.5 °C	8.5 °C	18.2 °C	-7.0 °C	2
November	8.9 °C	-0.7 °C	3.8 °C	14.2 °C	-22.1 °C	18
December	5.6 °C	-4.4 °C	0.2 °C	12.2 °C	-23.1 °C	30

Rain, sun and wind month by month

Month	Rainfall	Wet days	Daylight	Cloud cover	Humidity	Wind
January	34 mm	6	11 h/day	50 %	75 %	11 km/h
February	43 mm	8	11 h/day	58 %	79 %	11 km/h
March	64 mm	11	12 h/day	64 %	81 %	12 km/h
April	65 mm	13	13 h/day	70 %	79 %	13 km/h
May	100 mm	16	14 h/day	72 %	78 %	12 km/h
June	144 mm	22	14 h/day	86 %	82 %	11 km/h
July	242 mm	29	14 h/day	93 %	86 %	8.8 km/h
August	227 mm	28	13 h/day	89 %	85 %	8.4 km/h
September	142 mm	22	12 h/day	84 %	84 %	9.3 km/h
October	66 mm	12	12 h/day	61 %	78 %	11 km/h
November	22 mm	5	11 h/day	44 %	73 %	12 km/h
December	13 mm	3	10 h/day	38 %	70 %	12 km/h

How Shangri-La compares

The same four figures for nearby destinations, so the numbers above have something to be read against. Summer high is the warmest month's average high; winter low is the coldest month's average low.

Destination	Summer high	Winter low	Rain per year	Days above 25 °C
Shangri-La	18 °C	-8.1 °C	1,162 mm	0
Lijiang · China	23 °C	-0.3 °C	1,514 mm	15
Lushui · China	30 °C	9.5 °C	2,590 mm	253
Panzhihua · China	31 °C	8.2 °C	1,632 mm	215
Xichang · China	26 °C	2.5 °C	1,169 mm	105
Dali · China	24 °C	4.6 °C	1,249 mm	47
Baoshan · China	24 °C	4.3 °C	1,432 mm	57

Where Shangri-La ranks

Ranking	Position	Value
The coolest places in Asia in August	1stof 50	18 °C
The coolest places in Asia in July	1stof 50	18 °C
The coolest places in Asia in June	4thof 50	18 °C
The coolest places in Asia in September	5thof 50	16 °C
The coolest places in Asia in May	6thof 50	15 °C
The coolest places in Asia in April	18thof 50	11 °C

Planning a trip? See the best time to visit Shangri-La.

QuestionsCommon questions about Shangri-La’s climate

When is the best time to visit Shangri-La?

That depends on what you want, so the honest answer is a comparison rather than a single month. June, July, August sit closest to 20 °C on average, June is the warmest month and December the driest. The month-by-month table above has the full picture.

How hot does Shangri-La get?

In June, the warmest month, daily highs average 18 °C. The highest value in the 1991–2020 record is 23 °C.

How cold does it get in winter?

Nights average -8.1 °C in January, the coldest month. A normal year has 142 nights below freezing.

Which month is wettest in Shangri-La?

July, averaging 242 mm over 29 days with rain. The driest month is December with 13 mm. The year as a whole averages 1,162 mm.

Are these figures a forecast?

No. They are 1991–2020 climate normals: the average of thirty years, which describes what a month is usually like in Shangri-La rather than what any particular week will bring. Individual years can differ substantially from the normal.

Data sources and method

ERA5 / ERA5-Land reanalysis — Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), ECMWF. Copernicus Licence
Open-Meteo — Open-Meteo.com. CC BY 4.0
NOAA OISST v2.1 — NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Public domain
GeoNames — GeoNames.org. CC BY 4.0

Normal period: 1991–2020
Dataset version: era5-1991-2020-scores1.1
Last processed: 1 August 2026

Measured values come from ERA5 reanalysis and are reproduced unchanged. Calculated by us: monthly rankings, daylight hours, beach and comfort scores. Full formulas are on the methodology page.

Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026. Neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use that may be made of the Copernicus information or data it contains.