Weather in Shigatse

For tourists’ convenience, we gathered some information about the weather in Shigatse. Here are the general features of the weather in Shigatse.

General features of the weather in Shigatse:

1. Air Quality

The air is thin, atmospheric pressure is low and so is the oxygen content.

2. Sunshine and Solar Radiation

Shigatse has a lot of sunshine of all year and the annual sunshine time is over 3300 hours. The solar radiation and ultraviolet rays in Shigatse are very strong.

3. Temperature

The temperature in Shigatse is somewhat low. The annual average temperature in western subfrigid zone is 0? and 6.5? in the eastern temperate region. Annual temperature range is small and daily temperature range is large. The average daily temperature range in the northwest is 16? and 14? in the east.

4. Dry Season

The dry season and rainy season in Shigatse are clearly demarcated. From October to April of the next year is called the dry season or windy season. In the dry season, the climate is dry and the temperature is low and there are less snow, more wind. The rainfall is less than 10 percent of the total rainfall of the year.

5. Rainy Season

It is rainy season from May to September in Shigatse. The rainfall is more than 90 percent of the total rainfall of the year. People feel comfortable with the mild climate and the moist air in the rainy season.
The rain often falls with thunderstorm and hailstone at night. The rainfall at night takes up 70 to 80 percents of the total rainfall. The rainfalls are unevenly distributed. In the eastern part, it rains a lot and the rainfall is between 200mm to 430mm. while in the northwestern part, the rainfall is less than 200mm.
In the east, the rain falls earlier than the west and the rainfall fluctuates greatly between years.

6. Frostless Season

The frostless season in Shigatse is more than 120 days. The snowfall is small and is concentrated in the south zone of Nyalam and Tingri.

7. Three Kinds of Regional Climates

There are about three kinds of regional climates in Shigatse. Region from the north of the Himalayas to the south of Nyenchen Tonglha Mountains belongs to semi-arid monsoon climate of plateau’s temperate zone. A small part of region in the north of Nyenchen Tonglha Mountains belongs to arid or semiarid monsoon climate of plateau’s sub-frigid zone. The south region of the Himalayas’ ridge line belongs to sub-humid monsoon climate of plateau’s temperate zone.