Gobi Desert recorded as low as . In contrast, in Alxa, Inner Mongolia, it rises as high as in July. Average winter minimums are a frigid , while summertime maximums are a warm . Most of the precipitation falls during the summer. Although the southeast monsoons reach the southeast parts of the Gobi, the area throughout this region is generally characterized by extreme dryness, especially during the winter, when the Siberian anticyclone is at its strongest. The southern and central parts of the Gobi Desert have variable plant growth due to this monsoon activity. The more northern areas of the Gobi are
Gurbantünggüt Desert but now has mostly dried out, and the Ailik Lake (), which receives water from the Baiyang River (which in its turn is replenished by the Irtysh–Karamay Canal). China National Highway 216 crosses the desert in the north-south direction, from Altay City to Ürümqi. China National Highway 217 and the Kuytun–Beitun Railway skirt it from the west and northwest. The Ürümqi–Dzungaria Railway reaches into the desert's southeastern corner, known locally as "Jiangjun Gobi" (将军戈壁, "General's Desert"). The climate of the area is temperate, but very continental. The desert's ecological environment is very fragile, and the impact of human activities on