Zhaotong climate

Name: Zhaotong
Address: CN

Zhaotong is warmest in July, with average highs of 23 °C, and coldest in January, when nights average -2.3 °C. July is the wettest month (205 mm) and December the driest (15 mm). Figures are 1991–2020 climate normals.

Across a full year Zhaotong averages 996 mm of rain, 35 days above 25 °C and 61 days below freezing.

China · population 787,845 · 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 July 23 °C
Coldest month January -2.3 °C
Driest month December 15 mm
Wettest month July 205 mm
Least cloud February 58 % cloud
Hottest on record May 31 °C
Coldest on record January -19 °C

What to expectZhaotong through the year

Zhaotong has a clear annual cycle: average daily highs run from 9.1 °C in January to 23 °C in July, a swing of 17 °C in mean temperature across the year.

Counted across a normal year, 35 days a year reach 25 °C, 0 of them reach 30 °C, 61 nights drop below freezing. The warmest reading in the 1991–2020 record is 31 °C, in May.

Rain is strongly seasonal. July averages 205 mm against 15 mm in December — 14 times as much. Planning around the dry months matters more here than planning around temperature.

Month by month

Month	Avg high	Rainfall	Cloud
January	9.1 °C	16 mm	60 %
February	12.2 °C	16 mm	58 %
March	16.1 °C	31 mm	63 %
April	19.2 °C	47 mm	70 %
May	20.8 °C	90 mm	77 %
June	21.9 °C	162 mm	87 %
July	23.4 °C	205 mm	85 %
August	23.0 °C	182 mm	80 %
September	20.1 °C	124 mm	78 %
October	15.5 °C	79 mm	82 %
November	13.3 °C	30 mm	68 %
December	9.4 °C	15 mm	66 %

Temperature month by month

Month	Avg high	Avg low	Mean	Record high	Record low	Days above 25 °C	Days below 0 °C
January	9.1 °C	-2.3 °C	2.5 °C	21.6 °C	-19.1 °C	0	23
February	12.2 °C	-0.3 °C	5.2 °C	25.0 °C	-14.9 °C	0	14
March	16.1 °C	3.4 °C	9.1 °C	28.5 °C	-6.8 °C	0	5
April	19.2 °C	8.1 °C	13.0 °C	30.3 °C	-2.4 °C	5	0
May	20.8 °C	11.6 °C	15.7 °C	31.1 °C	1.8 °C	7	0
June	21.9 °C	14.5 °C	17.8 °C	30.1 °C	8.0 °C	6	0
July	23.4 °C	15.7 °C	19.3 °C	29.3 °C	10.8 °C	8	0
August	23.0 °C	15.2 °C	18.7 °C	29.5 °C	9.6 °C	7	0
September	20.1 °C	12.8 °C	16.2 °C	30.7 °C	4.6 °C	2	0
October	15.5 °C	8.7 °C	11.8 °C	25.8 °C	0.5 °C	0	0
November	13.3 °C	4.1 °C	8.2 °C	22.0 °C	-7.0 °C	0	2
December	9.4 °C	-0.7 °C	3.5 °C	19.2 °C	-12.7 °C	0	16

Rain, sun and wind month by month

Month	Rainfall	Wet days	Daylight	Cloud cover	Humidity	Wind
January	16 mm	3	11 h/day	60 %	74 %	12 km/h
February	16 mm	4	11 h/day	58 %	70 %	14 km/h
March	31 mm	8	12 h/day	63 %	70 %	15 km/h
April	47 mm	11	13 h/day	70 %	71 %	13 km/h
May	90 mm	16	13 h/day	77 %	75 %	12 km/h
June	162 mm	21	14 h/day	87 %	81 %	10 km/h
July	205 mm	22	14 h/day	85 %	82 %	10 km/h
August	182 mm	21	13 h/day	80 %	82 %	9.9 km/h
September	124 mm	18	12 h/day	78 %	83 %	10 km/h
October	79 mm	17	12 h/day	82 %	84 %	10 km/h
November	30 mm	8	11 h/day	68 %	80 %	11 km/h
December	15 mm	4	10 h/day	66 %	78 %	11 km/h

How Zhaotong 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
Zhaotong	23 °C	-2.3 °C	996 mm	35
Liupanshui · China	24 °C	0.9 °C	1,500 mm	40
Bijie · China	26 °C	-0.1 °C	1,334 mm	72
Xichang · China	26 °C	2.5 °C	1,169 mm	105
Yibin · China	31 °C	5.1 °C	1,151 mm	139
Qujing · China	23 °C	2.7 °C	1,276 mm	40
Panzhihua · China	31 °C	8.2 °C	1,632 mm	215

Where Zhaotong ranks

Ranking	Position	Value
The coolest places in Asia in August	20th of 50	23 °C
The coolest places in Asia in June	24th of 50	22 °C
The coolest places in Asia in July	25th of 50	23 °C
The coolest places in Asia in September	39th of 50	20 °C

Planning a trip? See the best time to visit Zhaotong.

QuestionsCommon questions about Zhaotong’s climate

When is the best time to visit Zhaotong?

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, July is the warmest month and December the driest. The month-by-month table above has the full picture.

How hot does Zhaotong get?

In July, the warmest month, daily highs average 23 °C. About 0 days a year pass 30 °C. The highest value in the 1991–2020 record is 31 °C.

How cold does it get in winter?

Nights average -2.3 °C in January, the coldest month. A normal year has 61 nights below freezing.

Which month is wettest in Zhaotong?

July, averaging 205 mm over 22 days with rain. The driest month is December with 15 mm. The year as a whole averages 996 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 Zhaotong 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
Data point: 27.317°, 103.717° (the coordinates the reanalysis values are taken for)
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.