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This data set contains information on natural disasters in Tibet of nearly 50 years, including the time, place and the consequences of natural disasters such as drought, snows disasters, frost hazards, hail, floods, gales, and lightning disasters.

Tibet is located on the southwest border of China and is the main body of the Tibetan Plateau. Due to the influence of the westerly winds, weather and strong warm and wet air currents from the Indian Ocean, the dry and wet seasons are obvious. In addition, the mountains and forests are numerous, and the terrain is complex in Tibet, which makes Tibet among those regions in China having the highest frequencies of natural disasters. The main meteorological disasters that cause significant damage to the production of agriculture and animal husbandry in Tibet are snows disasters, frost hazards, hail, floods and gales. According to incomplete statistics, the average annual disaster area from 1982 to 2000 was 28,440 hectares, of which the disaster area in 1983 was the largest, 203,700 hectares, followed by 1995 with a disaster area of 133,300 hectares. From the proportions of various disaster areas in the total area affected by the disasters, the proportion under drought is the largest, reaching 38%, followed by that under diseases and insect pests, which was 25%. Tibet is sparsely populated, and the ecological environment is very fragile. Traditional farming and animal husbandry production basically relies on people. Various meteorological disasters have caused heavy losses to the lives and property of the Tibetan people. Snow disasters topped the list of various meteorological disasters in Tibet. Tibet is one of the five largest pastoral areas in the country, and livestock is the most important source of production and livelihood for herdsmen. Snow disasters often cause large numbers of livestock death, significant property losses to herdsmen and threat to their lives.

The data are extracted from the Tibet Volume of Chinese Meteorological Disaster Dictionary, with manual entry, summarizing and proofreading.