Xinjiang hits 49.8°C, new China high-temperature record | second record broken in half a month, Turpan basin center of heat
TL;DR
Xinjiang's Turpan Dongkan weather station recorded 49.8°C on July 21 afternoon, setting a new national high-temperature record for staffed weather stations. The previous record was 49.1°C at Turpan National Station in early July 2026. Urumqi over 41°C, Karamay near 42°C, Altay 35°C. As the continental warm high shifts east, Turpan is expected to drop back to ~43°C.
On the afternoon of July 21, the Turpan Dongkan National Weather Station in Xinjiang recorded 49.8°C — setting a new all-time high-temperature record for staffed national weather stations in China. The previous record was 49.1°C at Turpan National Station in early July 2026 — the second record broken in the same area within half a month.
The heat is region-wide. Today, most of Xinjiang's river valleys and plains hit extreme temperatures: Urumqi New Station over 41°C, Karamay near 42°C, and Altay around 35°C. Altay sits at latitude 47°N — reaching 35°C at that latitude signals a rare warm-high coverage intensity.
The mechanism is a continental warm high parked over the Xinjiang basin. Turpan Basin sits at -154m elevation (mainland China's lowest point); descending airflow warming stacks on top of the warm high to push surface temperature into the 50°C zone. 49.8°C is the official staffed weather-station observation value — not a mobile sensor, not a surface radiation reading, i.e., the meteorological high-temperature record proper.
The break is tomorrow. The continental warm high is shifting east — Xinjiang will cool sharply: Turpan back to ~43°C, Urumqi to ~30°C. Meteorologically this is "the cliff drop after breaking a record," meaning the next extreme high waits for the next warm high entering Xinjiang.
In the record trajectory — China's staffed weather-station all-time high moved from 48.0°C (Turpan 2015), to 48.8°C (2020), to 49.1°C (July 2026 early), to 49.8°C today — +1.8°C in 10 years. Climate researchers judge that Turpan hitting 50°C surface temperature this century has moved from hypothesis to explicit probability event.
via 中气爱
The heat is region-wide. Today, most of Xinjiang's river valleys and plains hit extreme temperatures: Urumqi New Station over 41°C, Karamay near 42°C, and Altay around 35°C. Altay sits at latitude 47°N — reaching 35°C at that latitude signals a rare warm-high coverage intensity.
The mechanism is a continental warm high parked over the Xinjiang basin. Turpan Basin sits at -154m elevation (mainland China's lowest point); descending airflow warming stacks on top of the warm high to push surface temperature into the 50°C zone. 49.8°C is the official staffed weather-station observation value — not a mobile sensor, not a surface radiation reading, i.e., the meteorological high-temperature record proper.
The break is tomorrow. The continental warm high is shifting east — Xinjiang will cool sharply: Turpan back to ~43°C, Urumqi to ~30°C. Meteorologically this is "the cliff drop after breaking a record," meaning the next extreme high waits for the next warm high entering Xinjiang.
In the record trajectory — China's staffed weather-station all-time high moved from 48.0°C (Turpan 2015), to 48.8°C (2020), to 49.1°C (July 2026 early), to 49.8°C today — +1.8°C in 10 years. Climate researchers judge that Turpan hitting 50°C surface temperature this century has moved from hypothesis to explicit probability event.
via 中气爱