Lenghu

Lenghu
冷湖 · ᠯᠧᠩᠬᠤ ᠵᠢᠨ · ལེང་ཧུའུ་སྲི་
Location of Lenghu (red) in Haixi Prefecture (yellow) and Qinghai
Location of Lenghu (red) in Haixi Prefecture (yellow) and Qinghai
Lenghu is located in Qinghai
Lenghu
Lenghu
Location of the seat in Qinghai
Coordinates: 38°23′N 93°22′E / 38.383°N 93.367°E / 38.383; 93.367
CountryChina
ProvinceQinghai
Autonomous prefectureHaixi
County-level cityMangnai
Time zoneUTC+8 (China Standard)
Postal code
817400

Lenghu (Chinese: 冷湖; pinyin: Lěnghú) is a town in Mangnai, Haixi Mongol and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. It is located in the northwest of Qinghai province, China, bordering Gansu to the north/northeast and Xinjiang to the northwest.

History

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In 2018, the Mangnai and Lenghu administrative zones merged to established the county-level city of Mangnai.

Geography

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Lenghu borders Da Qaidam to the east, Mangnai to the west, Aksai Kazakh Autonomous County (Gansu) to the north, and Ruoqiang County (Xinjiang) to the northwest, and is part of the northwestern Qaidam Basin in an area dotted frequently by yardangs.

Climate

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As with most of northwestern Qinghai, Lenghu has an arid climate (Köppen BWk), with long, cold winters, and warm summers. It is the driest locale in the country,[1] with only 16.1 mm (0.63 in) of precipitation annually, and it is not uncommon for months to pass by without any rainfall, though underground water resources are plentiful. The monthly 24-hour average temperature drops to −12.5 °C (9.5 °F) in January and rises to 17.1 °C (63 °F) in July, while the annual mean is 2.82 °C (37.1 °F); diurnal temperature variation is wide, averaging 17.4 °C (31.3 °F) annually. The area is also extremely sunny; with monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 72% in July to 85% in October, the area receives 3,443 hours of bright sunshine annually.

Climate data for Lenghu, elevation 2,770 m (9,090 ft), (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1971–2010)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 8.9
(48.0)
12.4
(54.3)
19.6
(67.3)
27.1
(80.8)
28.2
(82.8)
33.1
(91.6)
35.7
(96.3)
35.9
(96.6)
30.0
(86.0)
21.5
(70.7)
13.0
(55.4)
6.7
(44.1)
35.9
(96.6)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) −2.6
(27.3)
1.8
(35.2)
7.1
(44.8)
13.6
(56.5)
18.4
(65.1)
22.8
(73.0)
25.5
(77.9)
24.7
(76.5)
19.5
(67.1)
11.8
(53.2)
4.3
(39.7)
−1.6
(29.1)
12.1
(53.8)
Daily mean °C (°F) −12.1
(10.2)
−7.5
(18.5)
−1.8
(28.8)
4.7
(40.5)
10.3
(50.5)
15.4
(59.7)
18.1
(64.6)
16.8
(62.2)
11.1
(52.0)
2.5
(36.5)
−5.3
(22.5)
−11.1
(12.0)
3.4
(38.2)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) −19.7
(−3.5)
−15.6
(3.9)
−10.2
(13.6)
−4.0
(24.8)
1.7
(35.1)
7.3
(45.1)
10.5
(50.9)
9.2
(48.6)
3.5
(38.3)
−5.3
(22.5)
−13.0
(8.6)
−18.5
(−1.3)
−4.5
(23.9)
Record low °C (°F) −32.0
(−25.6)
−30.9
(−23.6)
−29.2
(−20.6)
−19.3
(−2.7)
−12.5
(9.5)
−5.0
(23.0)
0.7
(33.3)
−4.0
(24.8)
−10.3
(13.5)
−18.4
(−1.1)
−26.5
(−15.7)
−30.2
(−22.4)
−32.0
(−25.6)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 0.6
(0.02)
0.2
(0.01)
0.2
(0.01)
0.4
(0.02)
1.9
(0.07)
3.8
(0.15)
4.5
(0.18)
3.4
(0.13)
2.5
(0.10)
0.3
(0.01)
0
(0)
0.2
(0.01)
18
(0.71)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) 1.0 0.3 0.4 0.4 1.1 2.1 3.6 2.5 1.3 0.3 0.2 0.6 13.8
Average snowy days 1.3 0.7 0.7 0.5 0.8 0 0 0 0 0.6 0.5 0.9 6
Average relative humidity (%) 37 30 26 24 25 29 32 31 30 30 34 39 31
Mean monthly sunshine hours 228.4 232.0 280.6 303.0 327.7 306.9 307.3 306.3 284.8 285.3 239.0 222.0 3,323.3
Percent possible sunshine 75 76 75 76 74 69 69 74 78 84 80 76 76
Source: China Meteorological Administration[2][3][4]

References

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  1. ^ "冷湖 - 气象数据 -中国天气网".
  2. ^ 中国气象数据网 – WeatherBk Data (in Simplified Chinese). China Meteorological Administration. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
  3. ^ 中国气象数据网 (in Simplified Chinese). China Meteorological Administration. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
  4. ^ China Meteorological Administration