Environment     

Shanghai records coldest July day for 112 years

Shanghai Daily, July 7, 2015

• Yesterday was Shanghai's coldest July day for 112 years, with the mercury topping out at just 21.2 degrees Celsius at the benchmark Xujiahui weather station, according to the city's metrological bureau.

  In 1903, the coldest July day came in at a decidedly chilly 20.9 degrees, it said.

  The recent heavy rains and a "cold air mass" are to blame for the dip in temperatures, which in the 10 days through Sunday were about 3 degrees lower than normal.

  While the temperature at Xujiahui was 21.2 degrees yesterday, in the Pudong New Area the mercury fell to an almost frosty 18.2, forecasters said.

  Today will remain chilly, with a high of 22 degrees, while tomorrow and Thursday should be much warmer at 26 and 29 degrees respectively.

  Heavier rains are also expected today due to the combined influence of the plum rain belt and Typhoon Linfa, the bureau said.

  Linfa was centered more than 1,300 kilometers south of Shanghai yesterday afternoon, but was steadily moving northeast and is expected to have some impact today and tomorrow. Thursday should be drier, but a second tropical cyclone — Typhoon Chan-Hom — will bring more wet weather on Friday.

  In the first 28 days of June, the total rainfall at the Xujiahui weather station was 339.8 millimeters, or more than twice the seasonal average, the bureau said.

  The wet weather has also resulted in a 20 percent increase in the number of mosquito eggs at designated monitoring spots, local health officials said yesterday.

  "Although there are more eggs, the cool temperatures should inhibit their growth," said Lei Qing from the office of Shanghai Patriotic Health Campaign, which manages insect control in the city.

  "Mosquitoes need both water and temperatures above 25 degrees Celsius," he said, adding that officials are trying to keep the numbers of insects to a minimum to ensure there is not an outbreak of dengue fever as was seen in Guangdong Province last year.

  "So far this year, the only cases of the fever have come from outside the city, so we will continue to do all we can to prevent an outbreak," he said.

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