Kunming Temperature by Month
Kunming, Yunnan, China has an average annual maximum temperature of 22°C (72°F), with moderate seasonal shifts ranging from 16°C (61°F) in January to 26°C (79°F) in May. Below you'll find a full monthly breakdown and a comparison with cities worldwide.
Kunming Monthly Temperatures
The moderate changes in the climate in Kunming ensure gradual weather shifts through each season. At night, temperatures drop to between 16°C (61°F) and 5°C (41°F) depending on the time of year.
The chart below illustrates the average maximum day and minimum night temperatures in Kunming by month:
Temperatures tend to bottom out between 4 AM and 6 AM, then climb to their daily peak around 3 PM. May, the warmest month, sees 212 hours of sunshine.
The chart below shows the average temperature throughout the year:
Daily Historical Temperatures
50-year average (1976-2025)
Average high and low temperatures for each day of the month based on long-term records.
Average temperatures in May
Historical Kunming Temperatures: 1976-2026
Browse day-by-day temperature records for Kunming spanning 51 years. Select any month and year to see actual high and low temperatures recorded on each day.
Temperature: Kunming vs China
The map below shows the annual temperature across China. You can also select individual months if you want to compare a specific time of year.
very warm
warm
pleasant
moderate
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Kunming vs World: Temperature Compared
Kunming's average annual maximum temperature is 22°C (72°F). To put that in context, here's how it compares to a few well-known destinations:
Seville, Spain averages 23°C (73°F) a year — one of the warmer cities in Western Europe, with long hot summers.
Glasgow, Scotland averages 13°C (55°F) a year — mild but often grey, with cold winters and rarely hot summers.
Shanghai, China averages 21°C (70°F) a year, with warm summers, mild winters, and a noticeable spring and autumn.
Perth, Australia averages 25°C (77°F) annually, with a classic Mediterranean climate — hot dry summers and mild wet winters.
What Does the Temperature Feel Like in Kunming?
Temperature alone doesn't tell the whole story — humidity plays a big role in how warm or cold it actually feels. High humidity in summer makes the heat feel more intense, particularly once temperatures climb above 25°C. In winter, the same humidity can make cold air feel sharper than the thermometer suggests.
In Kunming, January is the coolest month, with average highs of 16°C (61°F) and humidity around 66% — considered high. In May, the warmest month, temperatures average 26°C (79°F) with 66% humidity — conditions that feel high. For a full picture, see our humidity page.
Climate temperature data is typically calculated as a 30-year average. This smooths out year-to-year variability and gives a more reliable picture of what a place is actually like, rather than what happened in any single unusual year.
The readings come from a range of sources — land-based weather stations, ocean buoys, ships, and satellites. That data is collected by weather services around the world, then pooled, quality-checked, and averaged to produce the climate records you see here.
For cities and regions with significant elevation, altitude is one of the biggest factors shaping local temperatures. As a rule of thumb, temperatures fall by around 6°C for every 1,000 metres gained — so a city at 2,000 metres will typically be around 12°C cooler than a city at sea level in the same region. Higher ground also tends to see more dramatic day-to-night temperature swings, since thinner air loses heat faster after sunset.
For more on Kunming's weather — including monthly rainfall, sunshine hours, and humidity — visit our Kunming climate page.
