The appearance quality,sensory quality,chemical composition and physical characteristics of tobacco from 16 cities and towns in western Hubei flue-cured tobacco areas from 2005 to 2011 and the average temperature departure (dt) of tobacco field period (5 to 9),sunshine duration departure(ds) and precipitation departure percentage were investigated to determine the key climatic factors and critical period affecting the quality of flue-cured tobacco in the mountain area of western Hubei Province.The main factors were further ranked by the index of relative importance.The results indicated that the temperature in Qingjiangyuan fields is lower during earlier and later period,while Jinshennong area suffers long period of drought and excessive rainfalls during the late mature period,which causes significant impact on the quality of flue-cured tobacco.