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Shanghai sits on China's east coast at the mouth of the Yangtze River, on the flat Yangtze delta at approximately 31.23°N, 121.47°E. It has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) shaped by the East Asian monsoon, with four distinct seasons: hot, muggy, rainy summers and cool, damp winters, linked by a short spring and a pleasant autumn. It is milder in winter than Beijing to the north but far wetter overall.
Summer, from June to September, is hot, humid and rainy, with July and August the hottest months — average highs around 32–33°C and sultry nights, made harder to bear by the delta's high humidity. Early summer brings the 'plum rains' (meiyu), a spell of persistent damp, drizzly weather in June, followed by convective downpours and thunderstorms. It is also the heart of typhoon season, when storms tracking up the coast can bring destructive wind and torrential rain.
Winter, from December to February, is cool to cold and damp rather than freezing, with January the coldest month — average highs around 8–10°C and lows near 1–3°C. Snow is uncommon and rarely settles, but the combination of raw damp air, wind off the sea and the lack of central heating in many buildings makes it feel colder than the numbers suggest. Grey, overcast days are frequent.
Shanghai is wet, receiving around 1,100–1,200 mm of rain a year, with a clear summer maximum driven by the monsoon, the plum rains and typhoons; winter is drier but still sees regular rain. Rain falls in every month, so there is no true dry season. Live rainfall, humidity, and pressure readings for the city are shown in the panels above.
Two seasonal features define Shanghai's calendar: the meiyu or 'plum rain' of June, a humid, drizzly lull as the monsoon front stalls over the region, and the late-summer typhoon season, when the city sits in the path of Pacific storms — Typhoon Muifa in 2022 was the strongest on record to make landfall there. Spring and autumn, especially October, are the most comfortable and settled times of year.
To follow any single measurement in Shanghai 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.