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Nanchang, the capital of Jiangxi province, sits on the Gan River near Lake Poyang, China's largest freshwater lake, in a basin in southeastern China at approximately 28.68°N, 115.86°E. It has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) under the East Asian monsoon — with hot, muggy summers and cool, damp winters — and is known, like the Yangtze valley cities, for oppressively hot summers.
Summer, from June to August, is hot and muggy, with July and August the warmest months — average highs around 34–35°C — and heatwaves that can exceed 39–40°C, made brutal by high humidity and the basin's poor ventilation, giving Nanchang a reputation among China's hottest cities. Early summer brings the plum rains, sometimes causing serious flooding around Lake Poyang, before the peak heat sets in.
Winter, from December to February, is cool to cold and damp, with January the coolest month — average highs around 9–10°C and lows near 3–5°C, dipping to frost on the coldest nights with occasional snow. The persistent damp and cloud make it feel raw, and grey, drizzly spells are common in the low-lying, water-rich basin.
Nanchang is wet, receiving around 1,600–1,700 mm of rain a year, concentrated in spring and early summer, with the plum-rain season around April to June the wettest and capable of causing major flooding around Lake Poyang, while mid-summer and winter are relatively drier. Live rainfall, humidity, and pressure readings for the city are shown in the panels above.
Nanchang's basin setting near Lake Poyang traps summer heat and humidity, giving it some of the most oppressively hot, muggy summers of any provincial capital — it is often grouped with the Yangtze 'furnace' cities. The plum rains of early summer are the other defining feature, feeding Lake Poyang and, in bad years, causing extensive flooding across the low-lying region before the peak heat arrives.
To follow any single measurement in Nanchang 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.