Temperatures range from 26°C in the summer to 21°C in the winter. The winters are acutely dry and often extremely cold, while the summers are generally much warmer with the majority of annual rainfall concentrated in June, July and August.
Local farmers and data recorded in Xining indicates that rainfall patterns are gradually shifting to later in the year, which affects the ripening of the harvests and increases the prevalence of fungal damage to the crops. The winter is very long, and stretches from October to May.
The eastern side of the region suffers frequently from drought causing dramatic fluctuations in agricultural yield which places the subsistence farmers under additional stresses, while the west suffers from periodic heavy snows on a four to five year cycle, which denies the herds access to fodder, leading to widespread livestock mortality.
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