Abstract: Based on the daily temperature data from five national meteorological stations in the Urumqi River Basin from 1961 to 2023, the air temperature variation at different altitudes and time scales were analyzed using methods including linear trend estimation, polynomial fitting, moving average, cumulative anomaly, and Mann-Kendall test. The aim is to provide a scientific basis for the ecological environment governance and protection in the Urumqi River Basin. The results show that: 1) The temperature in the Urumqi River Basin decreased with increasing altitude, with a lapse rate of 0.41℃/ (100 m). In the alpine zone above 3000 m, the multi-year average temperature was below 0℃, while in the area below 2000 m, the multi-year average temperature was above 0℃. The 0℃ line was approximately located at the altitude of 2500 m. 2) The monthly variation of the temperature lapse rate showed a "single-peak" distribution, with its maximum occurring in June and July, at 0.70℃/ (100 m), and the minimum in December. 3) The temperature in the Urumqi River Basin showed an increasing trend during the study period. The most significant warming was observed in the oasis zone, with a linear warming rate of 0.51℃/ (10 a), while the smallest warming rate was observed in the low-mountain belt, at 0.25℃/ (10 a). Temperature in all regions experienced an abrupt change from low to high during the study period, accompanied with significant warming. The abrupt change occurred earlier in the oasis zone than in other regions.