The temperature in the northernmost settlement of China – the village of Beiji in Mohe County, Heilongjiang Province – fell to minus 53°C. This is the most severe frost on record.
Located in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang, the village of Mohe is widely known as the “North Pole of China” and is one of the few places in the country with a true subarctic climate.
The temperature at 7 am on January 22, the first day of the Lunar New Year, was minus 53°C, according to the Heilongjiang Meteorological Bureau. Thus, the previous record of 1969 was broken – minus 52.3 ° C.
The China Meteorological Administration was aware of a significant drop in temperatures in some parts of the country and issued a special warning on Monday – Cold wave blue warning.
Winters in Mohe are long, starting in early October and often lasting until May.
In 2018, a rare ‘frost fog’ — a weather phenomenon that only occurs in extremely cold climates when water droplets remain in liquid form in the air — enveloped the area, prompting local authorities to issue the city’s first ever ‘red weather alert’. .
No warnings have been issued in Mohe yet, but local meteorologists say the cold snap will continue for at least another week. And ice fog is very possible.
The constant cold all year round attracts tourists to the local ice attractions. In 2011, more than 10,000 tourists flocked to the city to watch the northern lights during the annual festival.
Climate change is leading to an increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events.
Back in 2018, China experienced its worst heat wave since 1961, which led to massive power outages and even led to river drought. Extreme temperatures lasted for more than 70 days, and the effects were felt throughout vast areas of the country.
In the southwestern province of Sichuan, home to 80 million people, power outages shut down factories, caused rolling blackouts in homes and offices, and killed thousands of poultry and fish on farms.