Aiming at the time-varying fading characteristics of radio waves in coal mining face, a clustering protocol based on cross-layer is proposed. Number of active sensor nodes is recorded initially and sliding window is set up to keep optimal number of stable cluster heads in each round. The channel efficiency between nodes and base stations is calculated by probe frame, and surplus energy information is combined as a selection criterion of cluster head, to design a clustering protocol adapting to wireless signal time-varying fading. In addition, the sending power in different phases of the nodes is regulated by certain fade margin method. Simulation experiments show that compared with other three similar algorithms (LEACH, ALEACH and LEACH-SWDN), LEACH-CL protocol features stable network topology and strong adaptability under signal fading, thus effectively prolonging the network lifetime and reducing the network packet loss rate, hence it is more suitable for complex and changeable coal mining face.