Climate and average weather in Chongqing

In Chongqing, the summers are muggy, sweltering, showery, and partly cloudy and the winters are cool and mostly cloudy.

Best: early March to mid June

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Chongqing typically varies from 6°C to 33°C, and is rarely below 3°C or above 39°C. August is the hottest month of the year, while January is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best times of year to visit Chongqing for warm-weather activities are from early March to mid June and early September to mid November.

Hottest
Aug
33°
Coldest
Jan
Wettest
Jun
173 mm
Driest
Jan
28 mm
Rain / yr
1233 mm
154 wet days
Daylight
10.1–13.9 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
289 m
29.6°N
Clearest
Aug
65% cloud

Chongqing is administrative center of Chongqing municipality.

Air quality
Very high
PM2.5 37.2 µg/m³ · 2018
Founded
1929

Air quality: WHO Ambient Air Quality Database. Density & description: Wikidata (CC0), GeoNames.

Chongqing weather by month, at a glance

The whole year in one picture — sky, rain, humidity, temperature and travel score. Click any band to jump to its full chart.

Each stripe is one measure across the whole year, stacked so a single day reads top to bottom. The sky band runs overcast grey on top down to clear blue at the base — more blue means sunnier — followed by the rainfall curve, the humidity band, a temperature strip that tints each stretch of the year by how warm its average high is, and the travel-score line at the foot. Scan straight down any date to read that day across every measure at once; the score climbs highest around early March to mid June.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Daily average highs and lows in Chongqing, from 1991–2020 of climate data. The shaded bands show the range most days fall in — 10th to 90th percentile.

The hot season lasts 3.2 months, from June 9 to September 14, with daily high temperatures above 28°C. The hottest month of the year in Chongqing is August, with an average high of 33°C and low of 25°C.

The cool season lasts 3.1 months, from November 26 to February 26, with daily high temperatures below 15°C. The coldest month of the year in Chongqing is January, with an average low of 6°C and high of 11°C.

Days typically run about 6°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 8°C) in August.

10°20°30°40°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan116
Feb138
Mar1811
Apr2316
May2719
Jun2922
Jul3325
Aug3325
Sep2821
Oct2217
Nov1712
Dec128

How hot and cold Chongqing really feels

Feels-like highFeels-like lowactual air temp

The felt-temperature range through the year — heat index on the day's high (summer humidity), wind chill on the night's low (winter wind). The dashed lines are the plain thermometer; the gap is how much hotter or colder it really feels.

On the hottest afternoons, once humidity is folded in, Chongqing feels like about 41°C (around July 30). About 80 days a year carry some heat stress, and 24 of them tip into dangerous heat (feels-like above 39°C), peaking in July.

10°20°30°40°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdangerous heat
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan111156
Feb131378
Mar18181111
Apr23231616
May27271919
Jun32292222
Jul38332525
Aug38332525
Sep29282121
Oct22221717
Nov17171212
Dec121278

Average hourly temperature in Chongqing

A compact picture of the whole year, hour by hour: each column is a day, each row an hour, and the color is the modeled average temperature. Darker overlays mark night, lighter ones the civil-twilight hours around sunrise and sunset.

Read left to right for the day of the year and top to bottom for the hour of the day; the color is the modeled temperature, cool blues through to hot reds on the same scale as the other charts. A vertical slice is a single day's swing — coolest just before dawn, warmest in the mid-afternoon — while a horizontal slice follows one hour across the seasons. The darker overlay marks night and the lighter one the twilight around sunrise and sunset. Colors run warmest on August afternoons, near 33°C, and coldest before dawn in January, near C.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12 AM2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AM

Chongqing weather by month

Every month at a glance. Click a month for its detailed page.

MonthHigh / Low (°C)Rainfall (mm)Wet daysDaylight (hours)Travel score
Jan11° / 287.610.32.5
Feb13° / 338.810.93.6
Mar18° / 11°7213.211.85.1
Apr23° / 16°1171512.75.7
May27° / 19°16316.113.55.5
Jun29° / 22°17315.713.94.6
Jul33° / 25°16614.613.73.1
Aug33° / 25°14714.213.13.1
Sep28° / 21°11812.412.25.3
Oct22° / 17°10716.311.35.5
Nov17° / 12°7211.610.54.9
Dec12° / 378.910.13.0

Chance of rain

How likely it is to rain on a typical day, and how that shifts across the wetter and drier seasons.

Chongqing gets about 1233 mm of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is often wet, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.

The wetter season lasts 5.4 months, from around Mar 15 to Aug 25, peaking in June at about 55% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jan 29.

June is the wettest month by volume, with 173 mm over about 16 wet days; January is the driest, with 28 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetJun 27 · 55%Jan 29 · 23%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan258
Feb309
Mar4313
Apr5015
May5216
Jun5216
Jul4815
Aug4514
Sep4312
Oct5016
Nov4012
Dec299

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Chongqing collects about 1233 mm of rain across 154 wet days — roughly 103 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. June is the wettest month with 173 mm, while January is the driest at just 28 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 41% of the year’s total.

0255075100125150175200JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec2833721171631731661471181077237
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan288
Feb339
Mar7213
Apr11715
May16316
Jun17316
Jul16615
Aug14714
Sep11812
Oct10716
Nov7212
Dec379

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

How often the daytime sky is clear, partly cloudy or overcast.

In Chongqing, the average share of the sky covered by clouds shows moderate seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The clearer part of the year begins around July 10 and lasts for 3.0 months, ending around October 7. The clearest month is August, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 40% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around November 14 and lasts for 5.0 months, ending around April 15. The cloudiest month is January, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 84% of the time.

0%100%10%90%20%80%30%70%40%60%50%50%60%40%70%30%80%20%90%10%100%0%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecAug 2 · 42%Jan 17 · 15%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan1684
Feb1783
Mar2179
Apr2575
May2674
Jun2179
Jul3268
Aug4060
Sep3466
Oct2476
Nov2476
Dec1981

Daylight, sunrise and sunset

DaylightNight

Hours of daylight through the year, with sunrise and sunset times.

The gold band is daylight — sunrise runs along its lower edge, sunset along the upper — so it widens toward summer and pinches toward winter, with night the dark area above and below. The longest day, around June 11, brings about 13 h 54 min of light; the shortest, around January 1, only 10 h 06 min — a swing of roughly 3 h 48 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan10.37:546:12
Feb10.97:406:37
Mar11.87:106:57
Apr12.76:337:15
May13.56:067:34
Jun13.95:577:51
Jul13.76:087:51
Aug13.16:267:30
Sep12.26:436:53
Oct11.37:016:17
Nov10.57:245:54
Dec10.17:475:53

Sunny days

How many genuinely sunny days each month brings — days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — banded into plain-language zones.

Chongqing averages about 5 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 2 and 9 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 3.1 months, from around Jul 9 to Oct 10. The sunniest month is August, with roughly 8 sunny days (mixed).

The greyest month is January, down near 3 sunny days — about 67% fewer than the August peak.

051015JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedAug 279 daysJan 202 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan3Gloomy
Feb3Gloomy
Mar4Gloomy
Apr4Gloomy
May5Gloomy
Jun4Gloomy
Jul7Gloomy
Aug9Mixed
Sep7Gloomy
Oct5Gloomy
Nov5Gloomy
Dec4Gloomy

Humidity comfort

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

Share of days at each humidity comfort level, based on the dew point — the measure that tracks how muggy it actually feels.

Humidity comfort is graded by the dew point — the temperature at which the air would be fully saturated — because it tracks how muggy it actually feels far better than relative humidity does. A low dew point feels dry and crisp; a high one feels sticky and oppressive no matter the reading on a humidity gauge.

In Chongqing, how humid it feels changes dramatically over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 5.8 months, from around April 23 to October 17. The muggiest month is June, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 100% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around October 18 to April 22, and February is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 100% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecFeb 18 · 100%Jun 15 · 0%miserabledryoppressivecomfortablemuggyhumidcomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)Miserable (%)
Jan10000000
Feb9910000
Mar83133100
Apr303525910
May213413590
Jun007384510
Jul00185140
Aug003224727
Sep042247233
Oct1136361510
Nov69256000
Dec9910000

Wind

Average wind speed through the year, banded into plain-language speed zones so a number reads as 'breezy' or 'calm' without knowing the scale.

This is the average sustained wind speed at the standard 10 metres above open ground — the steady flow a weather station reports, not the sharper gusts that come and go, which can run half again as fast. It's the number that says whether a place is generally breezy or calm.

Wind in Chongqing is steady company: average speeds sit near 6 km/hcalm — in every month of the year, with no meaningful windy or calm season.

0510JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmAug 15 · 6 km/hJan 1 · 5 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan5calm
Feb6calm
Mar6calm
Apr6calm
May6calm
Jun6calm
Jul6calm
Aug6calm
Sep6calm
Oct5calm
Nov5calm
Dec5calm

Hazard calendar for Chongqing

In seasonPeak

When the seasonal hazards worth planning around — the rainy season, tropical-cyclone risk and dust haze — are active through the year.

Chongqing sits in the Pacific typhoon belt; the season peaks July–October.

Chongqing's rainy season runs April–October, when most of the year's rain falls.

Pacific typhoon
Rainy season
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec

Best time to visit Chongqing

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

To characterize how pleasant the weather is in Chongqing throughout the year, we compute two travel scores — one for general sightseeing, one for beach and pool weather.

Around early June, Chongqing is still near the tail of its best-weather window — great conditions with the peak-season crowds already thinning.

Inferred from the travel-score curve; month-by-month visitor numbers are a planned addition.

The travel score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 18°C and 28°C. Based on this score, the best times of year to visit Chongqing for general outdoor tourist activities run from early March to mid June and again from early September to mid November, with a peak score in the last week of September.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationSep 30 · 5.9

The travel score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).

Travel score (0–10)Rating
Jan2.5poor
Feb3.7fair
Mar5.0fair
Apr5.6good
May5.5fair
Jun4.6fair
Jul3.2poor
Aug3.2poor
Sep5.3fair
Oct5.5good
Nov4.9fair
Dec3.1poor

The beach/pool score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 24°C and 34°C. Based on this score, the best time of year to visit Chongqing for hot-weather activities is from late April to early October, with a peak score in the second week of September.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationSep 10 · 6.3

The beach/pool score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).

What to pack for Chongqing, by month

EssentialRecommendedOptional

Month by month, what's worth putting in the bag — from the temperature range, rain chance, sun and wind. Tap a month for a quick packing note.

For a warm-season trip around August (highs near 33°C), the essentials are light clothes, rain gear and sun protection. In the cold season around January (highs near 11°C), pack a warm layer.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In August, Chongqing sees daytime highs around 33°C and nights near 25°C. Pack light clothes and rain gear. Worth having: sun protection. About 14 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Chongqing by month

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV index through the year, shaded by the WHO exposure levels — how much sun protection each month calls for.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Chongqing peaks around July 15 at about 11 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near January 10 at about 3 (moderate).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — every month of the year.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModerateVery highVery highExtremeVery highModerateJul 15UV 11Jan 10UV 3
UV index (midday)Level
Jan3Moderate
Feb6High
Mar8Very high
Apr6High
May9Very high
Jun9Very high
Jul11Extreme
Aug8Very high
Sep9Very high
Oct7High
Nov3Moderate
Dec3Moderate

Average hourly UV index in Chongqing

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Modeled clear-sky UV for every hour of every day — when in the day sun protection actually matters.

The whole year hour by hour: each column is a day, each row an hour, and the color is the modeled clear-sky UV index — the midday peak scaled down as the sun sits lower in the sky. Darker overlays mark night, lighter ones the civil-twilight hours around sunrise and sunset.

UV falls off far faster than brightness as the sun drops, so even in July the burn window is concentrated in the middle of the day: about 8.5 hours a day reach index 3 (protection recommended), and 6.5 hours reach 6 or more. Mornings and late afternoons stay comparatively gentle year round.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12 AM2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AM
UV ≥ 3 (h/day)UV ≥ 6 (h/day)
Jan1.50
Feb50
Mar6.53.5
Apr6.52.5
May7.55
Jun85.5
Jul8.56.5
Aug7.54.5
Sep74.5
Oct5.52
Nov20
Dec1.50

Air quality in Chongqing by month

GoodModeratePoorUnhealthyVery unhealthy

Average fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) through the year — so you can see which months the air is worst, not just the yearly average.

Air quality in Chongqing is worst in January — around 49 µg/m³ PM2.5 (poor), about 2.1× the cleanest month (August, 23 µg/m³).

Seasonal pattern from CAMS reanalysis, scaled to Chongqing's WHO annual average of 37.2 µg/m³.

0204060JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecPoorModeratePoorJan 1648 µg/m³Aug 1123 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan49Poor
Feb45Poor
Mar43Poor
Apr37Poor
May35Poor
Jun30Moderate
Jul24Moderate
Aug23Moderate
Sep32Moderate
Oct39Poor
Nov44Poor
Dec46Poor
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Chongqing is frost-free year round — even the coldest nights rarely reach freezing, so there is no start or end to the growing season.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecfrost-free year round
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan1000
Feb1000
Mar1000
Apr1000
May1000
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct1000
Nov1000
Dec1000

Growing degree days

Degree days (base 10°C)Frost-free shaded

Growing degree days tally heat above 10°C: each day adds however many degrees its average temperature runs over that threshold, and cold days add nothing. Chongqing banks about 3,363 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around August.

01,0002,0003,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan0
Feb22
Mar144
Apr281
May396
Jun465
Jul585
Aug591
Sep440
Oct290
Nov139
Dec11

Solar energy

Average daily shortwave solar energy reaching the ground, banded into brightness zones so the number means something at a glance.

Solar energy is how much sunlight actually reaches the ground each day, measured in kilowatt-hours per square metre (kWh/m²) — the combined effect of how long the sun is up, how high it climbs, and how much cloud gets in the way. It's the raw fuel a solar panel has to work with: for scale, 1 kWh/m² a day is dim and wintry, while 7+ is desert-bright.

Chongqing receives about 3.2 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — moderate — with a clear seasonal swing between 1.6 and 5.5 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 5.7 months, from around Mar 31 to Sep 21. The brightest month is July, averaging about 5.1 kWh/m² (bright).

The dimmest month is December, down near 1.6 kWh/m² — roughly 69% less than the July peak.

01234567JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseJul 275.5 kWhDec 61.6 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan1.8Dim
Feb2.2Moderate
Mar2.9Moderate
Apr3.8Moderate
May4.1Bright
Jun4.3Bright
Jul5.2Bright
Aug5.0Bright
Sep3.5Moderate
Oct2.1Moderate
Nov1.8Dim
Dec1.6Dim

Where is Chongqing?

Chongqing sits at 29.6°N, 106.6°E, 289 m above sea level, in China. The nearest listed city is Chengdu, 269 km away.

GuiyangFenghuangZhangjiajieXi'anGuilinKunming

What Chongqing looks like

aerial photography of the cityscape
Photos by Ming Chen, Chawy and Ryan Wu on Unsplash
a tall clock tower towering over a city
a train going over a bridge in a city

Topography around Chongqing

How much the land rises and falls, and what covers it, within 3, 16 and 80 km of Chongqing.

Within 3 km, the terrain around Chongqing has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 206 m around an average of 227 m above sea level; within 16 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 504 m; within 80 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,549 m.

The land around Chongqing is covered by artificial surfaces (54%) and water (25%) within 3 km, trees (44%) and artificial surfaces (39%) within 16 km, and trees (73%) within 80 km.

3 km
206 m
16 km
504 m
80 km
1,549 m
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater
Nearby: Chengdu 269 km · Leshan 270 km · Guiyang 331 km · Fenghuang 347 km · Zhangjiajie 383 km · Xi'an 568 km · Guilin 602 km · Kunming 630 km

China travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 2
Exercise Increased Caution
Power plugs
Type A / I
220 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 47% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$13,862
2025
Happiness
6.1 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Homicide rate
0.5
per 100k, 2020
Road deaths
17.4
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
Upper middle
World Bank
English
Low
EF EPI 464
Religion
unaffiliated 52%folk religion 22%Buddhist 18%Christian 5%

Sources: World Bank, US State Department, World Happiness Report, WHO/UNICEF, EF EPI, CIA World Factbook.

Data sources

Temperature, precipitation, cloud, humidity, wind and solar figures are a 1991–2020 climatology for Chongqing (29.5603°, 106.5577°, elevation 289 m), computed from hourly ERA5 reanalysis — contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information. Sun figures are astronomical calculations, not observations. City data © GeoNames, CC BY 4.0. Map outlines from Natural Earth (public domain); interactive map © Google. Tropical-cyclone seasons are the published climatological basin seasons (NOAA National Hurricane Center / regional warning centres). UV index is derived from CAMS (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service) clear-sky UV data — contains modified Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service information. Monthly air-quality (PM2.5) seasonality is from the CAMS EAC4 reanalysis (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service), scaled to the WHO annual mean where available. Topography is sampled from the Copernicus DEM GLO-90 elevation model (© ESA/Airbus) and ESA WorldCover 2021 land cover (CC BY 4.0).