Record January precipitation for 155 counties, cities in China

A total of 155 counties and cities in northwestern, central and southern China have reported record snowfall or rainfall for January, the weather authority said Monday.

A regional torrential rain pounded southern China from Friday to Monday, said Ma Xuekuan, chief forecaster of the National Meteorological Center.

The daily precipitation of 36 cities and counties in Fujian, Guangdong, Jiangxi and Hunan provinces exceeded the historical record of January extremes, he added.

During this period, an area of about 426,000 square kilometers has received over 50 millimeters of rainfall, while another area covering some 200,000 sq km has received 100 mm of rainfall, he said.

He also introduced that areas in the central and eastern regions, including Henan and Shaanxi provinces, that were battered by winter’s strongest blizzard from Tuesday to Thursday suffered a successive snowstorm from Friday to Monday.

Although the second snowfall was not as heavy as the previous one, it resulted in another round of damage and aggravation, Ma said.

Ma also said due to the ongoing cold snap, the low temperatures in most areas south of the Yellow River will last until Saturday and will gradually pick up Sunday.

wangkeju@chinadaily.com.cn