Xinjiang’s meteorological and geographical conditions

1. Abundant light and heat, scarce precipitation

Xinjiang’s climate is characterized by drought, characterized by abundant light and heat and scarce precipitation.

The reason for the formation of arid environment is that it is far away from the ocean and surrounded by mountains. The moisture from the ocean gradually decreases during long-distance transportation, and when it reaches the sky above Xinjiang, it is blocked by high mountains. Not only does the moisture decrease, but it also creates regional differences in precipitation distribution.

2. The mountains in the inversion layer are

winter cold refuges

Because the Tianshan Mountains can block cold air from invading southward, the Tianshan Mountains have become a climate boundary. The northern Xinjiang belongs to the mid-temperate zone, and the southern Xinjiang belongs to the warm temperate zone.

The annual average temperature in the southern Xinjiang Plain is 10C-13C, while in the northern Xinjiang Plain it is lower than 10C. The extreme maximum temperature in Turpan reached 48.9C, and the extreme minimum temperature in Cocotuohai, Fuyun County, reached -51.5C. The annual average daily temperature is about 10C. The temperature in the southern Xinjiang plain is above 4000C, while most of the northern Xinjiang plain is less than 3500C. The frost-free period in the southern Xinjiang plain is 200-220 days, while most of the northern Xinjiang plain is less than 150 days.

The temperature in mountainous areas decreases significantly vertically in summer, with a rate of 6C-8C/1000 meters. There is a temperature inversion layer in the mid-mountain zone on the northern slope of Tianshan Mountains in winter, with an inversion rate of 3C to 5C/1000 meters. The mountains in the inversion layer are winter grazing areas and cold refuges, such as the Nanshan Ski Resort in Urumqi. three. There is more precipitation in northern Xinjiang than in southern Xinjiang

The distribution pattern of annual sunshine hours is: slightly decreasing from north to south, 3001 hours in Altay, 2574 hours in Pishan; increasing from west to east, 2828 hours in Huocheng, 3549 hours in Xingxingxia hours; from the plains to the mountainous areas, it decreases in northern Xinjiang and increases in southern Xinjiang. The reason is that there are more cloudy and rainy days in the mountains of northern Xinjiang and more dust and sandstorms in the Shangjiang plain.

Xinjiang’s precipitation mainly comes from the prevailing westerly airflow in the Atlantic Ocean, followed by the cold and moist airflow from the Arctic Ocean. The monsoons from the Pacific and Indian Oceans are difficult to enter Xinjiang. The average annual precipitation in Xinjiang is only 145 mm, which is 23% of China’s average (630 mm). Xinjiang is almost the least among places at the same latitude in the world. The distribution pattern of precipitation is: more in northern Xinjiang than in southern Xinjiang, more in west than in east, more in mountains than in plains, more at the edge of the basin than in the center of the basin, and more on the windward slope than on the leeward slope. The mountainous areas of northern Xinjiang are 400-600 mm thick, and some are close to 1,000 mm. The southern slope of Tianshan Mountain is 20-400 mm, and the northern slope of Kunlun Mountain is 200-300 mm. The edge of Junggar Basin is 150-250 mm, and the center and east are 100-150 mm. The western and northern edges of the Tarim Basin are 50-70 mm, the eastern and southern edges are 20-50 mm, the center is less than 20 mm, and it is only 4 mm near Tuokxun County in the Turpan Basin.