Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang province, sits on the Songhua River in the far northeast of China, close to the Siberian border, at approximately 45.80°N, 126.53°E. As one of China's most northerly major cities, it has a monsoon-influenced humid continental climate (Köppen Dwa) with extremely cold, dry, sunny winters and warm, humid, rainy summers, and one of the widest annual temperature ranges of any large Chinese city.

Summer, from June to August, is warm and the wet season, with July the warmest month — average highs around 27–28°C and humid, showery conditions — a brief, green respite from the long cold. The summer monsoon brings nearly all of the year's rain in these months, often as thunderstorms, while spring and autumn are short, dry and rapidly changing transitional seasons.

Winter, from November to March, is long and famously severe, with January the coldest month — average highs around -13°C and lows near -24°C, and cold records approaching -40°C. The dry Siberian monsoon keeps skies often clear and sunny despite the intense cold. The reliable deep freeze is the backdrop to Harbin's renowned International Ice and Snow Festival, whose sculptures last for weeks.

Harbin is fairly dry, receiving around 520–580 mm of precipitation a year, overwhelmingly concentrated in the summer months from June to August, while the long winter is very dry with only light, powdery snow that stays frozen for months. Live rainfall, humidity, and pressure readings for the city are shown in the panels above.

Harbin is defined by its extreme winter: months of intense, sub-freezing cold under the dry Siberian monsoon, so reliable that the city's famous Ice and Snow Festival carves enormous illuminated sculptures each January that endure for weeks. Its Russian architectural heritage and its position near Siberia give it a character — and a climate — unlike anywhere else in China, with one of the country's widest temperature ranges.

To follow any single measurement in Harbin more closely, use our live instruments: the online barometer for atmospheric pressure, the thermometer for temperature, the hygrometer for humidity, the anemometer for wind speed, the wind vane for wind direction, and the rain gauge for rainfall.