Heatwave hits Beijing, lifting temperature to 39 C

BEIJING -- On Friday morning, the Chinese capital of Beijing renewed an orange alert for high temperatures, with the day's maximum temperature expected to reach 39 C, said local weather authorities.

As heatwaves continue to scorch the city, temperatures in most parts of Beijing will reach 37 to 39 C on Friday and Saturday.

Beijing will record an even higher ground temperature during the scorching heat. "The road surface temperature will reach more than 50 C, which can easily cause road damage, vehicle tire blowout, spontaneous combustion and other traffic accidents," said Lei Lei, chief forecaster of the municipality's meteorological observatory.

This week, more than 2 million square kilometers of regions in China, covering Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Henan and Shandong, have been gripped by the sweltering weather, with days of high temperatures above 35 C.

On Friday, China's national observatory also renewed a yellow alert for high temperatures.

According to the latest forecast, seven Chinese provincial-level regions are expected to see some parts with hot weather of over 40 C on Friday.

This round of heatwaves started around Wednesday. As of 5 pm Thursday, eight capital cities in China's provincial-level regions had recorded their highest temperatures of 2023. Shijiazhuang, capital of North China's Hebei province, took the lead, as its daily maximum temperature reached 40.4 C, the first time the city exceeded 40 C this year.

Meteorological centers across the country have advised the public to avoid outdoor activities during high-temperature periods in the afternoon and suggested that workers exposed to high temperatures adopt necessary protective measures.

China has a four-tier, color-coded weather warning system, with red representing the most severe warning, followed by orange, yellow and blue.

Chinese meteorologists refer to days when the daily maximum temperature reaches more than 35 C as "high temperature days." The threshold for the activation of an orange alert is when the daily maximum temperature climbs to more than 40 C in a single day, or the maximum temperature remains above 37 C for two consecutive days.