July 2026 Temperature Review

Compiled from 31 days of daily readings for 433 cities in July 2026; written once at the start of the following month.

July 2026 was a broadly hot month across China’s monitored cities, with a national mean high of 31.9°C over 31 days and 433 cities. The warmest provincial readings were concentrated in the west and east-central heat belts: Chongqing led with a mean high of 35.7°C, followed by Zhejiang at 34.8°C and Xinjiang at 34°C. At the cooler end, Tibet averaged 23.6°C, Qinghai 23.9°C and Yunnan 26.5°C, keeping a clear separation from the hottest provinces. The contrast between Chongqing and Tibet reached 12.1°C in mean high terms, a wide July spread across the national map.

The month’s highest city-day temperatures were all in Xinjiang. Turpan reached 49°C on 2 Jul, the standout reading of the month, while Hami climbed to 45.7°C on 4 Jul and Shihezi reached 43.3°C on 21 Jul. The coolest nights were also clustered on the plateau side of the country, with Guoluo in Qinghai down to 1.2°C on 20 Jul, Haibei in Qinghai at 1.6°C on 4 Jul and Naqu in Tibet at 1.7°C on 19 Jul. These figures framed July as a month of strong extremes, from near 50°C daytime heat in Xinjiang to low single-digit nights in Qinghai and Tibet.

Days at or above 35°C were widespread and frequent. Across the 433 cities, there were 3183 hot city-days, and 315 cities recorded at least one such day. Turpan again stood out with 30 days at or above 35°C, nearly the whole month. In Chongqing, Beibei and Tongnan each recorded 27 hot days, showing how persistent the heat was away from Xinjiang as well. The distribution of hot days matched the provincial picture, with Xinjiang supplying the highest peak readings and Chongqing showing the strongest sustained provincial mean high.

Rainfall totals showed a very different geography, with the wettest places concentrated along the southern coast. Qinzhou in Guangxi was the wettest city, receiving 1126.7 mm over 27 rain days. Fangchenggang, also in Guangxi, followed with 1081.5 mm over 26 rain days, and Shanwei in Guangdong recorded 1009.1 mm over 25 rain days. At the dry end, Xinjiang dominated again: Hami had only 1.3 mm, Turpan 11 mm and Kunyu 15.6 mm. The gap between Qinzhou and Hami was 1125.4 mm, underscoring how sharply July rainfall differed between the coast and inland Xinjiang.

The sharpest single-day temperature drops were in northern and northwestern areas. Eerduosi in Inner Mongolia fell from 33.8°C to 22.8°C on 10 Jul, a drop of 11°C. Xinzhou in Shanxi dropped from 34.6°C to 24.2°C on 5 Jul, down 10.4°C, while Haidong in Qinghai moved from 26.1°C to 15.9°C on 11 Jul, down 10.2°C. These were the clearest breaks in daily temperature from one day to the next during the month.

Overall, July 2026 combined a high national mean maximum with repeated 35°C days across a large majority of cities. Xinjiang supplied both the most intense heat and the driest totals, while the southern coast recorded the month’s heaviest rainfall and the plateau provinces remained the coolest part of the country.

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