Abstract:The following are the main characteristics of the general circulation of atmosphere in January 2016. There were three polar vortex centers which are stronger than normal years. The atmospheric circulation presented a great meridionality in middle latitude in Eurasia. The East Asia major trough and the south branch trough were stronger than those in average condition. The monthly mean precipitation was 25.7 mm around the country, 94.7% above the normal value, especially in Guangdong, Guangxi and Hunan it is 3.7 times more than normal, breaking the record of precipitation for the same periods since 1951. The monthly average temperature was -5.3℃, which is 0.3℃ lower than the normal years, but cold air activities appeared frequently. Totally, four cold air processes and five precipitation processes were reported. During 21-25 January, most part of China suffered from the strong cold surge which is characterized by a sharply drop in temperatures, extremely strong and widely affected area. The cold surge help many places of China build a new record for cold temperature. From 28 to 29 January, the southern part of China experienced a rarely seen severe rainstorm process.