A dataset of heatwaves in Xinjiang province during 1961-2019

Due to climate change, heatwaves occur frequently, causing serious threats to human health, ecological environment and social economy. Based on the daily maximum temperature and relative humidity data of 105 meteorological stations in Xinjiang province from 1961 to 2019, the heat wave index was used as the discriminant criterion to obtain heatwaves dataset in Xinjiang, including the frequency, cumulative number of days and first and last days of heat waves at each station per year. The quality of the dataset was assessed based on the existing literature. The results indicate that the dataset has high credibility and can provide data support for heatwaves research and risk assessment in Xinjiang.