The study of winter snowfall holds great significance for Changji Prefecture, located in the northwestern arid region. Abnormal winter snowfall frequently leads to heavy snowfall, which results in snow disasters and avalanches. Furthermore, blizzards and strong winds often cause snowdrifts that block traffic and severely reduce visibility. Therefore, it is essential to conduct investigations in this area. A notable example occurred in December 2015, when Changji Prefecture experienced an extremely rare blizzard characterised by widespread snowfall and a high number of stations reporting heavy snow, with many stations breaking historical records. Therefore, systematic research on winter snowfall is necessary. This study focuses on the Changji area. Based on daily precipitation records from 10 national meteorological stations between 1982 and 2022, the characteristics of snowfall amount, snowfall intensity, and the number of snowfall days are analysed using methods such as linear regression, the Mann-Kendall test, and wavelet analysis. The results show that, based on the winter daily snowfall observation data from 10 national stations in Changji Prefecture from 1982 to 2022, this study analyses the climatological characteristics of winter snowfall amount, snowfall days, and snowfall intensity using methods such as linear trend estimation, Morlet wavelet analysis, Mann-Kendall mutation test, and ArcGIS inverse distance weighting interpolation. The results reveal several noteworthy findings: (1) Significant regional differences exist in winter snowfall changes. The snowfall amount shows a significant increasing trend in the plain area and the Beitashan region, with rates of 2.6 mm/10a and 2.8 mm/10a, respectively, while the trends in the Tianchi and Caijiahu regions are not significant. The dominant months contributing to the increase differ, with December being the primary contributor in the plain area and February in the Beitashan region. (2) The reduction in snowfall days across various regions is consistently attributed to a significant decrease in light snowfall days. Concurrently, the number of heavy snowfall days increases significantly in the plain and Tianchi areas, and the winter snowfall intensity enhances significantly, indicating a trend towards more intense snowfall events. (3) Topography is a key factor influencing snowfall distribution, with both snowfall amount and heavy snowfall days exhibiting a spatial pattern of high values in mountainous areas (Tianchi), medium values in oasis-plain areas, and low values in desert (Caijiahu) and arid mountainous (Beitashan) areas. This study reveals the characteristics of “increasing amount, decreasing days, and increasing intensity” of winter snowfall in Changji Prefecture against a warming and wetting background, providing references for regional water resource assessment and snow disaster prevention.