Dunhuang weather in January

In January, Dunhuang sees average daytime highs of -1°C and overnight lows near -12°C, with 1 mm of precipitation across 0.1 wet days and about 9.5 hours of daylight. It is the 12th-warmest and 11th-wettest month of the year here.

Highs climb over the month, from about -1°C in the first days to 1°C by the end. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 53% of the time in January, and the air most often feels dry.

Daylight stretches from about 9 h 12 min at the start of January to 9 h 54 min by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, January is Dunhuang's 7th-clearest and 12th-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see Dunhuang's year-round climate.

Daytime high: -1°; 12th warmest
Overnight low: -12°; 1st coldest
Precipitation: 1 mm; 0.1 wet days
Daylight: 9 h 24 min; 9:07 AM – 6:34 PM
Cloud cover: 41%; 7th clearest
Wind: 10 km/h; 12th windiest
Solar energy: 2.84 kWh/m²
Travel score: 0.0; out of 10

← December Dunhuang year-round climate February →Best places to visit in January

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Temperature in January

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Highs climb over the month, from about -1°C in the first days to 1°C by the end.

A typical January day in Dunhuang reaches about -1°C in the afternoon and slips back to -12°C overnight — a 11°C spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between -5°C and 3°C. Set against its neighbours, January runs about 1°C cooler than December and about 6°C cooler than February.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Avg high (°C)	-1	-1	-1	-1	-1	-1	-1	-1	-1	-1	-1	-1	-1	-1	-1	-1	-1	-1	-1	-1	-1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	2
Avg low (°C)	-12	-12	-12	-12	-12	-12	-12	-12	-12	-12	-12	-12	-12	-12	-12	-12	-12	-12	-12	-12	-12	-12	-12	-12	-12	-11	-11	-11	-11	-11	-11

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	-1	-12
2	-1	-12
3	-1	-12
4	-1	-12
5	-1	-12
6	-1	-12
7	-1	-12
8	-1	-12
9	-1	-12
10	-1	-12
11	-1	-12
12	-1	-12
13	-1	-12
14	-1	-12
15	-1	-12
16	-1	-12
17	-1	-12
18	-1	-12
19	-1	-12
20	-1	-12
21	-1	-12
22	0	-12
23	0	-12
24	0	-12
25	0	-12
26	0	-11
27	0	-11
28	1	-11
29	1	-11
30	1	-11
31	2	-11

How January really feels in Dunhuang

Once humidity and wind are folded in, January averages 0 days that feel above 32°C and 31 that feel at or below 0°C — the comfort signal a plain temperature reading hides.

Days feeling ≥ 32°C

heat index over the day's high

Days feeling ≤ 0°C

31 feel bitter (≤ -10°C)

The story in January is cold — wind chill drags the overnight "feels like" below the raw low.

Dunhuang weather by month

How January compares with the rest of the year at a glance. January is the 12th-warmest and 11th-wettest month here — the current month is highlighted below.

Month	High / Low (°C)	Rainfall (mm)	Wet days	Snow days	Daylight (hours)	Travel score
Jan	-1° / -12°	1	0.1	0.3	9.5	0.0
Feb	6° / -7°	1	0.2	0.2	10.4	0.8
Mar	14° / -1°	2	0.5	0.5	11.7	5.0
Apr	22° / 7°	2	0.7	0.1	13	8.2
May	27° / 13°	5	1	0	14.2	7.7
Jun	32° / 19°	8	1.6	0	14.8	5.1
Jul	34° / 21°	7	1.4	0	14.6	3.9
Aug	32° / 19°	5	1	0	13.6	4.9
Sep	27° / 12°	3	0.5	0	12.3	8.1
Oct	19° / 4°	1	0.4	0	10.9	7.7
Nov	9° / -4°	1	0.3	0.3	9.8	2.2
Dec	0° / -10°	1	0.4	0.7	9.2	0.0

Cloud cover in January

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 53% of the time in January.

Beyond those clear spells, partly cloudy skies cover about 14% of January, with mostly cloudy or overcast conditions the remaining 33%. Skies tend to cloud over as the month goes on.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Clearer (%)	70	69	70	70	69	69	70	69	69	68	68	68	67	67	67	67	66	66	66	65	65	64	64	63	64	64	63	64	64	64	63
Cloudier (%)	30	31	30	30	31	31	30	31	31	32	32	32	33	33	33	33	34	34	34	35	35	36	36	37	36	36	37	36	36	36	37

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	70	30
2	69	31
3	70	30
4	70	30
5	69	31
6	69	31
7	70	30
8	69	31
9	69	31
10	68	32
11	68	32
12	68	32
13	67	33
14	67	33
15	67	33
16	67	33
17	66	34
18	66	34
19	66	34
20	65	35
21	65	35
22	64	36
23	64	36
24	63	37
25	64	36
26	64	36
27	63	37
28	64	36
29	64	36
30	64	36
31	63	37

Chance of precipitation in January

Any precipitation

Dunhuang gets around 1 mm of rain and snow over 0.1 wet days in January. The line is the day-by-day chance of measurable precipitation.

Day to day, the chance of measurable precipitation averages around 0% and peaks near 1% on the wettest days, and about 0 day brings snow.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Rain chance (%)	1	1	1	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

	Rain chance (%)
1	1
2	1
3	1
4	1
5	1
6	1
7	0
8	0
9	0
10	0
11	0
12	0
13	0
14	0
15	0
16	1
17	1
18	1
19	1
20	1
21	1
22	0
23	0
24	0
25	0
26	0
27	0
28	0
29	0
30	0
31	0

Humidity in January

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

Most of January feels dry — the stacked bands show each day's mix of comfort levels, read off the dew point.

By dew point, January lands in the dry band about 100% of days. It rarely turns muggy — the humid and sticky bands barely register.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Dry (%)	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100

	Dry (%)
1	100
2	100
3	100
4	100
5	100
6	100
7	100
8	100
9	100
10	100
11	100
12	100
13	100
14	100
15	100
16	100
17	100
18	100
19	100
20	100
21	100
22	100
23	100
24	100
25	100
26	100
27	100
28	100
29	100
30	100
31	100

Wind in January

Winds average 10 km/h in January, the calmest month.

Across January, daily wind ranges from about 10 km/h on the calmest days to 11 km/h at its breeziest. It stays fairly steady from day to day.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Wind speed (km/h)	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	11	11	11
Feels	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm

	Wind speed (km/h)	Feels
1	10	calm
2	10	calm
3	10	calm
4	10	calm
5	10	calm
6	10	calm
7	10	calm
8	10	calm
9	10	calm
10	10	calm
11	10	calm
12	10	calm
13	10	calm
14	10	calm
15	10	calm
16	10	calm
17	10	calm
18	10	calm
19	10	calm
20	10	calm
21	10	calm
22	10	calm
23	10	calm
24	10	calm
25	10	calm
26	10	calm
27	10	calm
28	10	calm
29	11	calm
30	11	calm
31	11	calm

Sunrise & sunset in January

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 9 h 12 min at the start of January to 9 h 54 min by month's end. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.

Days grow by about 42 minutes over January. Sunrise moves from 9:09 AM to 8:59 AM, and sunset from 6:20 PM to 6:51 PM.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Daylight (h)	9.2	9.2	9.2	9.2	9.2	9.2	9.3	9.3	9.3	9.3	9.3	9.4	9.4	9.4	9.4	9.4	9.5	9.5	9.5	9.5	9.6	9.6	9.6	9.6	9.7	9.7	9.7	9.8	9.8	9.8	9.9
Sunrise (AM)	9:09	9:09	9:09	9:09	9:09	9:09	9:09	9:09	9:09	9:09	9:09	9:09	9:08	9:08	9:08	9:07	9:07	9:07	9:06	9:06	9:05	9:05	9:04	9:04	9:03	9:02	9:02	9:01	9:00	8:59	8:59
Sunset (PM)	6:20	6:21	6:22	6:22	6:23	6:24	6:25	6:26	6:27	6:28	6:29	6:30	6:31	6:32	6:33	6:34	6:35	6:36	6:37	6:38	6:39	6:40	6:41	6:42	6:44	6:45	6:46	6:47	6:48	6:49	6:51

	Daylight (h)	Sunrise (AM)	Sunset (PM)
1	9.2	9:09	6:20
2	9.2	9:09	6:21
3	9.2	9:09	6:22
4	9.2	9:09	6:22
5	9.2	9:09	6:23
6	9.2	9:09	6:24
7	9.3	9:09	6:25
8	9.3	9:09	6:26
9	9.3	9:09	6:27
10	9.3	9:09	6:28
11	9.3	9:09	6:29
12	9.4	9:09	6:30
13	9.4	9:08	6:31
14	9.4	9:08	6:32
15	9.4	9:08	6:33
16	9.4	9:07	6:34
17	9.5	9:07	6:35
18	9.5	9:07	6:36
19	9.5	9:06	6:37
20	9.5	9:06	6:38
21	9.6	9:05	6:39
22	9.6	9:05	6:40
23	9.6	9:04	6:41
24	9.6	9:04	6:42
25	9.7	9:03	6:44
26	9.7	9:02	6:45
27	9.7	9:02	6:46
28	9.8	9:01	6:47
29	9.8	9:00	6:48
30	9.8	8:59	6:49
31	9.9	8:59	6:51

Solar energy in January

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in January, about 2.84 kWh/m².

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 2.44 kWh/m² to a high of 7.48 kWh/m² in June across the year — January's 2.84 kWh/m² sits near the bottom.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Solar energy (kWh/m²)	2.5	2.5	2.6	2.6	2.6	2.6	2.6	2.6	2.7	2.7	2.7	2.7	2.8	2.8	2.8	2.8	2.9	2.9	2.9	2.9	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.1	3.1	3.1	3.2	3.2	3.3	3.3	3.3
Level	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate

	Solar energy (kWh/m²)	Level
1	2.5	Moderate
2	2.5	Moderate
3	2.6	Moderate
4	2.6	Moderate
5	2.6	Moderate
6	2.6	Moderate
7	2.6	Moderate
8	2.6	Moderate
9	2.7	Moderate
10	2.7	Moderate
11	2.7	Moderate
12	2.7	Moderate
13	2.8	Moderate
14	2.8	Moderate
15	2.8	Moderate
16	2.8	Moderate
17	2.9	Moderate
18	2.9	Moderate
19	2.9	Moderate
20	2.9	Moderate
21	3.0	Moderate
22	3.0	Moderate
23	3.0	Moderate
24	3.1	Moderate
25	3.1	Moderate
26	3.1	Moderate
27	3.2	Moderate
28	3.2	Moderate
29	3.3	Moderate
30	3.3	Moderate
31	3.3	Moderate

Planning a trip in January

Hazard calendar for Dunhuang

In seasonPeak

In January, Dunhuang sits inside its dust season. The full year is below, with each hazard's peak months called out.

Dunhuang sees dust haze year-round, heaviest in May.

Dust

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Is January a good time to visit Dunhuang?

Our two travel scores rate January for general sightseeing and for beach or pool weather — 0 (poor) to 10 (ideal).

0.0

Sightseeing

11th-best month of the year

0.0

Beach & pool

10th-best month of the year

January is a weaker month for outdoor sightseeing in Dunhuang.

What to pack for Dunhuang in January

From January's temperature range, rain chance, sun and wind — what's worth putting in the bag.

In January, Dunhuang sees daytime highs around -1°C and nights near -12°C. Pack a warm layer and a heavy coat.

a warm layera heavy coat

UV index in Dunhuang in January

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV in January peaks around 2. The full-year curve, shaded by WHO exposure level, is below.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Dunhuang peaks around July 16 at about 10 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near January 11 at about 2 (low).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 9 months of the year.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
UV index (midday)	2	3	5	7	7	10	11	10	7	5	2	2
Level	Low	Moderate	High	High	High	Very high	Extreme	Very high	Very high	Moderate	Moderate	Low

	UV index (midday)	Level
Jan	2	Low
Feb	3	Moderate
Mar	5	High
Apr	7	High
May	7	High
Jun	10	Very high
Jul	11	Extreme
Aug	10	Very high
Sep	7	Very high
Oct	5	Moderate
Nov	2	Moderate
Dec	2	Low

Air quality in Dunhuang in January

GoodModeratePoorUnhealthyVery unhealthy

Average fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) through the year — so you can see where January falls, not just the annual average.

Air quality in Dunhuang is worst in March — around 276 µg/m³ PM2.5 (very unhealthy), about 2.2× the cleanest month (December, 125 µg/m³).

Modeled monthly averages (CAMS reanalysis, 2015–2024).

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
PM2.5 (µg/m³)	179	180	276	222	218	139	136	169	133	167	145	125
Level	Very unhealthy	Very unhealthy	Very unhealthy	Very unhealthy	Very unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Very unhealthy	Unhealthy	Very unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy

	PM2.5 (µg/m³)	Level
Jan	179	Very unhealthy
Feb	180	Very unhealthy
Mar	276	Very unhealthy
Apr	222	Very unhealthy
May	218	Very unhealthy
Jun	139	Unhealthy
Jul	136	Unhealthy
Aug	169	Very unhealthy
Sep	133	Unhealthy
Oct	167	Very unhealthy
Nov	145	Unhealthy
Dec	125	Unhealthy

Location & terrain

Where is Dunhuang?

Dunhuang sits at 40.2°N, 94.7°E, 1,131 m above sea level, in China. The nearest listed city is Jiayuguan, 309 km away.

Topography around Dunhuang

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

Within 3 km, the terrain around Dunhuang has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 31 m around an average of 1,129 m above sea level; within 16 km, significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 582 m; within 80 km, extreme variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 3,435 m.

The land around Dunhuang is covered by cropland (54%) within 3 km, bare terrain (56%) and cropland (31%) within 16 km, and bare terrain (95%) within 80 km.

3 km

31 m

cropland 54%

16 km

582 m

bare terrain 56%

80 km

3,435 m

bare terrain 95%

treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrain

← December Dunhuang year-round climate February →Best places to visit in January

January weather nearby: Jiayuguan 309 km · Turpan 552 km · Altai 702 km · Urumqi 711 km · Bogd 792 km · Hovd 806 km · Bayanhongor 829 km · Uliastay 860 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

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 Dunhuang (40.1667°, 94.6833°, elevation 1,131 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. 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).

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	-1	-12
2	-1	-12
3	-1	-12
4	-1	-12
5	-1	-12
6	-1	-12
7	-1	-12
8	-1	-12
9	-1	-12
10	-1	-12
11	-1	-12
12	-1	-12
13	-1	-12
14	-1	-12
15	-1	-12
16	-1	-12
17	-1	-12
18	-1	-12
19	-1	-12
20	-1	-12
21	-1	-12
22	0	-12
23	0	-12
24	0	-12
25	0	-12
26	0	-11
27	0	-11
28	1	-11
29	1	-11
30	1	-11
31	2	-11

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	70	30
2	69	31
3	70	30
4	70	30
5	69	31
6	69	31
7	70	30
8	69	31
9	69	31
10	68	32
11	68	32
12	68	32
13	67	33
14	67	33
15	67	33
16	67	33
17	66	34
18	66	34
19	66	34
20	65	35
21	65	35
22	64	36
23	64	36
24	63	37
25	64	36
26	64	36
27	63	37
28	64	36
29	64	36
30	64	36
31	63	37

	Rain chance (%)
1	1
2	1
3	1
4	1
5	1
6	1
7	0
8	0
9	0
10	0
11	0
12	0
13	0
14	0
15	0
16	1
17	1
18	1
19	1
20	1
21	1
22	0
23	0
24	0
25	0
26	0
27	0
28	0
29	0
30	0
31	0

	Dry (%)
1	100
2	100
3	100
4	100
5	100
6	100
7	100
8	100
9	100
10	100
11	100
12	100
13	100
14	100
15	100
16	100
17	100
18	100
19	100
20	100
21	100
22	100
23	100
24	100
25	100
26	100
27	100
28	100
29	100
30	100
31	100

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	-1	-12
2	-1	-12
3	-1	-12
4	-1	-12
5	-1	-12
6	-1	-12
7	-1	-12
8	-1	-12
9	-1	-12
10	-1	-12
11	-1	-12
12	-1	-12
13	-1	-12
14	-1	-12
15	-1	-12
16	-1	-12
17	-1	-12
18	-1	-12
19	-1	-12
20	-1	-12
21	-1	-12
22	0	-12
23	0	-12
24	0	-12
25	0	-12
26	0	-11
27	0	-11
28	1	-11
29	1	-11
30	1	-11
31	2	-11

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	70	30
2	69	31
3	70	30
4	70	30
5	69	31
6	69	31
7	70	30
8	69	31
9	69	31
10	68	32
11	68	32
12	68	32
13	67	33
14	67	33
15	67	33
16	67	33
17	66	34
18	66	34
19	66	34
20	65	35
21	65	35
22	64	36
23	64	36
24	63	37
25	64	36
26	64	36
27	63	37
28	64	36
29	64	36
30	64	36
31	63	37

	Rain chance (%)
1	1
2	1
3	1
4	1
5	1
6	1
7	0
8	0
9	0
10	0
11	0
12	0
13	0
14	0
15	0
16	1
17	1
18	1
19	1
20	1
21	1
22	0
23	0
24	0
25	0
26	0
27	0
28	0
29	0
30	0
31	0

	Dry (%)
1	100
2	100
3	100
4	100
5	100
6	100
7	100
8	100
9	100
10	100
11	100
12	100
13	100
14	100
15	100
16	100
17	100
18	100
19	100
20	100
21	100
22	100
23	100
24	100
25	100
26	100
27	100
28	100
29	100
30	100
31	100

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	-1	-12
2	-1	-12
3	-1	-12
4	-1	-12
5	-1	-12
6	-1	-12
7	-1	-12
8	-1	-12
9	-1	-12
10	-1	-12
11	-1	-12
12	-1	-12
13	-1	-12
14	-1	-12
15	-1	-12
16	-1	-12
17	-1	-12
18	-1	-12
19	-1	-12
20	-1	-12
21	-1	-12
22	0	-12
23	0	-12
24	0	-12
25	0	-12
26	0	-11
27	0	-11
28	1	-11
29	1	-11
30	1	-11
31	2	-11

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	70	30
2	69	31
3	70	30
4	70	30
5	69	31
6	69	31
7	70	30
8	69	31
9	69	31
10	68	32
11	68	32
12	68	32
13	67	33
14	67	33
15	67	33
16	67	33
17	66	34
18	66	34
19	66	34
20	65	35
21	65	35
22	64	36
23	64	36
24	63	37
25	64	36
26	64	36
27	63	37
28	64	36
29	64	36
30	64	36
31	63	37

	Rain chance (%)
1	1
2	1
3	1
4	1
5	1
6	1
7	0
8	0
9	0
10	0
11	0
12	0
13	0
14	0
15	0
16	1
17	1
18	1
19	1
20	1
21	1
22	0
23	0
24	0
25	0
26	0
27	0
28	0
29	0
30	0
31	0

	Dry (%)
1	100
2	100
3	100
4	100
5	100
6	100
7	100
8	100
9	100
10	100
11	100
12	100
13	100
14	100
15	100
16	100
17	100
18	100
19	100
20	100
21	100
22	100
23	100
24	100
25	100
26	100
27	100
28	100
29	100
30	100
31	100