Situated at mid-latitude in the east of the Eurasian Continent, Jilin Province has a continental monsoon climate of the temperate zone, with four strikingly different seasons with precipitation and heat coming in the same season. It is dry and very windy in spring. It's hot and rainy in summer. In fall the sky is clear and the air is crisp. And the winter is cold and long.

      For years the average temperature of the province has been lingering between 2-6 o C with the Midwest between 4 o C and 6 o C and the south above 6 o C. Ji'an, a city in southern Jilin has remained at 6.5 o C, the spot with the highest temperature in the province. But the area around the Heavenly Lake is the lowest having stayed at –7.3 o C. There are striking differences in the four seasons. The coldest month is January, with the average temperature of the province remaining below -11 o C. The lower reaches of the Tumenjiang River stays above -14 o C, and along the South Yalujiang River, Laoling Range, Ji'an, the temperature wavers between -14 o and -15 o C. In Wangqing, Dunhua, and the plains in the west it rises and falls between –16 o C and 18 o C. Around the Heavenly Lake in the Changbaishan Mountains it seldom rises above –22 o C. A typical month in Spring is April when the average temperature in the Midwestern plain is 6-8 o C. In the low mountainous and hilly parts it settles at about 6-7 o C. The mountainous country in the east remains below 6 o C. The lower reaches of the Tumenjiang River vary from 6 to 7 o C. The valley at the South Yalujiang River of the Laoling Range stands above 8 o C, the highest in the province. In summer (July) the average temperature of the plains can be as high as 23 o C, the warmest in the province. In the low mountainous and hilly stretches it is between 22 o C and 23 o C. In the remote mountain it stays below 20 o C. At the mouth of the Tumenjiang River in Hunchun it is above 20 o C. The area around the Heavenly Lake in the Changbaishan Mountains is 8 o C, the lowest in the province. September in fall sees 6-8 o C in the western plain and no more than 6 o C in the mountainous region in the east. The Heavenly Lake and its surrounding area can be as cold as –5 o C, the lowest in the province. The lower reaches of the Tumenjiabg River and the north bank of the Yalujiang River are over 6 o C. Ji'an is at 8.4 o C, the highest in the province. Hunchun is at 7.9 o C. The annual range in the province often varies between 35-42 o C. The daily range is usually 10-14 o C, with summer having the smallest and Spring and Fall the biggest differences. The highest temperature of the province remains between 34-38 o C. In the mountainous country in the east it is less than 34 o C. Around the Heavenly Lake it is 19.2 o C. In the low mountainous and hilly areas it can reach 36 o C and in the plains it exceeds 38 o C. The highest recorded temperature was 40.6 o C in 1965 at Baicheng, and at Taonan it was 40.2 o C. The lowest extreme in the western plain was -33.9 o C at Baicheng. At Tongyu it is –33.5 o C. At Hunchun in the east it is –32.5 o C. At Yanji it is – 32.7C . At Changchun in the middle of the province it is – 38.4C and in some parts of Changchun a temperature as low as –40 o C was recorded. Huadian in 1970 witnessed –45 o C, the lowest temperature we have ever had. In the Heavenly Lake and the remote mountains it was below –40 o C. The year 2001 saw the highest temperature in the province, having been the second hottest year since 1949. The yearly average temperature was 5.7 o C. The temperatures in spring, summer, and fall were all high, 0.6 o C more than that of the normal years for the three seasons.