Inner Mongolia Weather

Located inland on Inner Mongolian Plateau with middle to high latitude, Inner Mongolia has temperate continental monsoon climate in general, characterized by large temperature differences, rare precipitation, frequent winds and plenty of sunshine. However, as the vast region spans long about 2,400 km from the east to west and wide about 1,700 km from the south to north, Inner Mongolia weather is of regional variations. For example, the northernmost Genhe belongs to cold temperate zone and the eastern Alxa is in temperate continental climate zone.

The four seasons are quite clear in Inner Mongolia. The temperature in spring from April to May rises sharply, and there are a lot of windy days and low precipitation. Summer is short, not very hot and sees the most rainfall. In autumn from September to October, the temperature drops suddenly and the frost always come early. Winter is rather long for 5 months with very cold snap.
 Compared with most destinations in China, the overall temperature in Inner Mongolia is relatively low. For instance, during summer, the high degree in Beijing usually hovers around 40 degrees Celsius (degrees Fahrenheit), while that in Hulunbuir is about 10°C (50°F) lower. Therefore, Inner Mongolia is among the popular destinations in China to escape burning summer heat.

Large temperature difference is another obvious feature of Inner Mongolia climate, which is not only embodied in the yearly gap but also between day and night as well as among regions.

Street Views in Hohhot

Normally, the day-night temperature difference is in the range of 10 - 17°C (50 - 63°F); on occasions, it could go beyond 20°C (68°F). Therefore, the night is a little cool even in hot summer. As for yearly temperature difference, take its capital Hohhot as an example, the daytime high temperature in the hottest July usually hovers between 25 and 33°C (77 - 91°F) and that in coldest January ranges from -10 to 3°C (14 - 37°F). During transitional periods like spring and autumn, the weather of Inner Mongolia might be changeable with drastic temperature fluctuations that visitors may feel like experience four seasons in several days. 

The temperature also shows a progressive downward trend from western to eastern Inner Mongolia as well as from the south to north. In the same April, it is quite common to feel warm like spring in the southwest but cold like early winter in the northeast. For instance, Baotou in April sees daily highs lying between 17 and 25°C (63 - 77°F), while Genhe, the coldest city of Inner Mongolia and even the whole China, has the max degrees fluctuating between 3 and 11°C (37 - 52°F). A regional difference over 10°C (50°F) could be seen.
 Inner Mongolia receives the average annual precipitation of 324 mm (12.76 in) from about 97 days. The total amount is not high and seldomly bring large disruption on your travel schedule. It is distributed unevenly both across the year and throughout the whole region
 

Rainy Season of Inner Mongolia

Chronologically, July - August has the yearly highest rainfall around 100 mm (3.94 in) every month, known as the peak rainy season of Inner Mongolia. But thanks to the high evaporation capacity, you won’t feel muggy. Also, it mostly falls as brief shower and downpour that stop soon. The lowest precipitation happens in December as snow drizzles. In transitional seasons, the low monthly precipitation ranging from 45 to 60 mm (1.77 - 2.36 in) is in multiple forms including rain, sleet, snow even hailstone. Therefore, the climate of Inner Mongolia is pretty dry in most time.

Geographically, as the precipitation decreases gradually from eastern to western Inner Mongolia, humid zone transits to semi-humid, then semi-arid and arid zone. Similarly, the south tends to receive more precipitation than the north.
 

Bright Sunshine in Inner Mongolia

Across the whole year, Inner Mongolia is endowed with abundant sunshine. Most areas enjoy annual sunshine over 2,700 hours, while in Alxa League, the western part, the sunlight duration reaches more than 3,400 hours per year. Talking about daylength, about 7 months from March to September have sufficient daytime no less than 12 hours on average. On the same day, there exist daylength variations about 1 - 1.5 hours in different cities.

June sees the longest daylight and sunlight duration of 15 and 10 hours per day respectively; December has the shortest with only 9 daylight and 6 sunlight hours. Meanwhile, due to the relatively high altitude, the sunshine is mostly strong and you need to take sunscreen measure almost the whole year. With UV index of 10, July is the most scorching month.
 Winds are commonly seen in Inner Mongolia. On average, the annual number of windy days is 10 - 40 and some places like Ulanqab and Xilingol have over 50. Normally, they are not very strong and cause limited influences, just bringing down the perceived temperature or something like that. 

However, gusts of winds with force 7 - 9 occur sometimes especially during spring and autumn. Together with low precipitation, they lead to dusty days, of which heavy one forms into sandstorm. Across the region, the annual average number of sandstorm days is about 5 - 20; the northeastern part with mountains and forests usually sees less. Spring with little plant cover is the peak sandstorm period.
 

Nadam Fair in July

In general, the best time to visit Inner Mongolia is from June to September when the weather is relatively stable and favorable with moderate temperatures and humidity. During this time, you can admire gorgeous natural scenery including both vibrantly green grasslands and colorful autumn views. But considering the wide range of the region, the best travel time is slightly different for each part. For the southwest grasslands like Gegentala Grassland, this best visit time might last to mid-October. Besides, Naadam Fair is usually held in July and August, which provides visitors diverse interesting activities such as wrestling and dancing performances.