Beijing misses out on nation’s snow show
Print Edition
IT seems that the snow that has swept through China this winter has forgotten to call at Beijing.
East and central China have been hit by heavy snow or even blizzards, but in the northern city of Beijing, only some mountainous areas received a light sprinkling that turned them briefly white. Downtown, the very slight snow on January 21 was barely noticeable.
According to Beijing’s climate observatory, the capital has recorded 108 consecutive days without “effective precipitation” since October 23, the longest dry spell for 10 years. “Effective precipitation” refers to rain or snow of more than 0.1 millimeters.
The longest period without effective precipitation recorded by the station was 114 days in the 1970-1971 winter.
Guo Jianxing with Beijing meteorological service bureau said that although the city has seen plenty of cold air this winter, there has been a lack of moisture in the atmosphere and no conditions for snow to form.
Since November, under the influence of the La Nina, the Siberian high pressure area and the East Asian trough have intensified, leading to colder air in north China.
However, the subtropical high in the West Pacific is in a position that is not conducive to wet, warm air from China’s south moving northward to meet the cold air, said Shi Hongbo, a bureau official.
Parts of China, especially in the northeast and the north, have recorded temperatures near to historical lows, and the snow in the east has been especially heavy this winter. Scientists say the warming Arctic is one reason.
Last year saw the highest ocean temperature since records began.
“Rising temperatures in seas such as the North Pacific and the North Atlantic have affected the temperatures around the North Pole, which pushed the Arctic vortex southward,” said Zhu Jiang, head of the Chinese Academy of Sciences atmospheric research institute.
The polar vortex is like a pot lid restricting the movement of cold air at the Arctic. The shift of the vortex has forced cold air southward, he said.
When the cold air met moist, warm air from the south snow fell in central and east China, Zhu added.
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