Beijing Just Witnessed its Driest Year on Record

With no forecast of snow in sight, Beijing's extraordinarily long dry spell has just entered the history books as one of driest on record.

A weather observatory located in southern Beijing has reported receiving no significant precipitation since Oct 23 of last year, signifying a new dry spell record of 116 days.

This isn't to say it didn't snow this winter. Beijing received a snowfall last month during a cold snap that blanketed the city with an average 1 millimeter of precipitation.

And yet, with Beijing's jurisdiction so vast that it takes hours to cross from one side of its subway system to another, the massive city isn't beholden to any large-scale weather phenomenon as some local areas have remained untouched by precipitation.

The previous record of 114 days goes back to the winter of 1970-71, but Beijing residents won't have to think back that far.

A dry spell in the winter of 2014 lasted for 104 days, but things became more serious during the 108-day-long drought of 2010-11 in which local authorities initiated water conservation procedures.

Fortunately for us now, similar procedures haven't been required this winter due to the 2014 construction of the South-North Water Transfer Project that supplies Beijing with 70 percent of its water during certain months.

Beijing Climate Center forecast director Shi Hongbo explained that the lack of precipitation this winter has been partly due to the influence of La Nina from the Pacific equator region and high air pressure from Siberia to the north.

Even though the winter has come to an end in Beijing with the coming of Spring Festival and the end of skating season, you shouldn't put away your hand cream and desk humidifier.

The local forecast calls for sunny skies with some overcast over the next week, suggesting that the record-breaking dry spell will continue for some time to come.

Photo: Tupian.baike.com

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