Beijing sees an 11 day heat wave, second largest in history

Beijing has already had an 11 day heat wave, with temperatures hitting over 35 degrees Celsius, and it is still unclear whether it will continue through July.

According to a briefing about the June heat wave, held by Beijing Meteorological Bureau on July 2, the average air temperature across the plains around Beijing reached 28.8°C in the second half of the month, the highest since 1951. By June 30, there had already been 11 days of extremely hot weather, with air temperature hitting 35 degrees Celsius or higher. It is the second largest heat wave in history, behind 13 days in 1952 and 1965.

The number of extremely hot days is higher than the 10-year average.

Compared with the same period last year, Beijing's June weather has been "especially hot." No extremely hot days of over 35 degrees Celsius occurred in Beijing last June, and only three appeared in July last year. By contrast this year, precipitation has been scarce and air temperatures have been higher and hot days appeared earlier than normal.

According to Zhang Qing, a senior engineer from the Climate Center under Beijing Meteorological Bureau, 8 extremely hot days were recorded by the observatories in June, higher than the average figure for the same period (2.5 days) and the average figure for the past ten years (4.9 days). The figure this year is also higher than last year (0 days). On June 24, a maximum temperature of 39.6 degrees Celsius was recorded by an observatory in the southern suburbs, the highest air temperature in late June since 1951.

Whether the heat wave will continue remains to be seen

According to the Chief Forecaster from Beijing Municipal Meteorological Observatory Sun Jisong, the main reason for the June heat wave was a change in direction of cold air.

As to the question of a future forecast after a "scorching" June, Zhang pointed out that July is the month when high temperatures occur most frequently. The highest recorded for a July in Beijing was 41.9 degrees Celsius. Whether this July will hit another record high depends on the heat wave getting better or worse.

Translated by LOTO