All chapters:

Introduction

Climate

Waters and water management

Ecosystems and ecoregions

Species diversity and use of biological resources

Nature conservation: econet and protected areas

Countries & cultures

Economy

Land use

International policy

Climate

Mean annual temperature varies from -7° C in the north to +6° C in the south of Amur River Basin.  Mean January temperatures range from -12 to -32° C, but on the Pacific coast they are 10° C higher, moderated by the influence of the Seas of Okhotsk and Japan.
In the Chinese part of the basin July mean temperature is 16 to 18° C.  The range of daily temperature is greater than 10° C from early June to the end of August.  Mean temperature in August, the warmest month, is 17 to 23° С.  The annual temperature range is nearly 50° C.  The warm summers allow for the cultivation of maize, rice, soy beans, and sweet potatoes.  The long, cold, and dry winters preclude planting of winter cereals such as wheat or rye, and make frost-intolerant fruit tree cultivation impossible.

Arctic weather patterns from Siberia influence Mongolia and most of the upper part of the basin; the areas are much less effected by monsoons from the remote Pacific coast.  Thus, Mongolia has a dry, continental climate.  Mean annual air temperature varies from +0.50 to 30 C.  Monthly mean temperature in January is between -20 to -240 C and the monthly mean temperature in July is +160 to +220 C.  The lowest temperature is -400 to -470 C and the warmest is +390 to +400 C.  The annual temperature amplitude may reach 700 C.
Russia’s part of the Amur-Heilong basin is, on average, colder than China’s.  Near the village of Pokrovka at the confluence of the Shilka and Argun Rivers, the annual temperature range reaches 98o C.  The highest temperatures occur in July.  Air temperatures reach +30 to 40o C with the maximum of +41o C recorded near the city of Blagoveschensk.  The winters are cold with air temperature dropping to -30 to -50o C.  In the upper reaches of Amur-Heilong the lowest minimum temperature ever recorded was -59o C.  Severe cold in winter combined with low snow cover results in frozen soils to depths of over 2 m over much of the basin.  Permafrost characterizes large parts of the basin in Russia.  Primorsky Krai and the southern and eastern parts of Khabarovsky Krai have a monsoon climate with slightly cooler summers and milder winters.  However, while the city of Khabarovsk is at the same latitude as Paris, mean annual temperatures in the Amur are 7-8° C lower and mean winter temperatures are 19-20° C lower due to the influence of the Siberian anticyclone.