Xingtai has a continental,
monsoon-influenced
semi-arid climate (
Köppen BSk). It has hot, humid summers due to the East Asian monsoon, and generally cold, windy, very dry winters that reflect the influence of the vast Siberian anticyclone; fall is similar to spring both in temperature and lack of rainfall. In the spring, there are large sandstorms blowing in from the Mongolian steppe, accompanied by rapidly warming, but generally dry, conditions. The annual rainfall, more than half of which falls in July and August alone, is highly variable and not reliable. In the city itself, this amount has averaged to a mere per annum.During the year, temperatures typically vary between -6°C and 32°C, rarely falling below -10°C or above 37°C.
Air quality According to a survey conducted by Global Voices China in February 2013, among China's 10 most polluted cities, seven of those cities were located in the province of Hebei (Xingtai,
Shijiazhuang,
Baoding,
Handan,
Langfang,
Hengshui and
Tangshan). Among the 10 cities, Xingtai ranked first in the list with the worst air quality. In 2020, the improvement rates of Xingtai's
air quality index and average
PM2.5 concentration ranked first in Hebei.
Xingtai earthquake A major earthquake, known as the
Xingtai earthquake, with magnitude 6.8 on the
Richter scale and epicenter in
Longyao County occurred in the early morning of March 8, 1966. It was followed by 5 earthquakes above magnitude 6 on the Richter scale that lasted until March 29, 1966. The strongest of these quakes had a magnitude of 7.2 and took place in the southeastern part of
Ningjin County on March 22. The earthquake resulted in 8,064 deaths, 38,000 injuries and more than 5 million destroyed houses. ==Administrative divisions==