The Snowiest and the Least Snowy Places in China

Editor︰Xu Nuo

China's climate is very different from the north to the south. Do you know where is the snowiest place in China? And which province had never seen snow?

Songpan: a southern city snowed for 182 days a year

Songpan is located in the Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture of Sichuan Province, neighboring Jiuzhaigou County and Ruoergai County. The picture shows a snowy scene in the urban area of ​​Songpan. (Web Image)

Meteorological station in Songpan holds the record for the most snow in China. It’s located on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, where has cold climate because of high altitude.

The station has an average of 162.9 days of snow per year and up to 182 days in some years, which means it snowed for half of the year.

The meteorological station in Changbaishan Tianchi, Jilin Province, is in second place. Its record of annual snowfall days is 144.5 days and once reached 176 days in one year.

In China, the number of annual snowfall days is higher in mountainous and plateau regions, while it is lower in lowlands and plains; it is also greater in the northern regions than in the southern ones.

Read more:The temperature difference in China exceeds 105℃, which place is the coldest? How cold can it get?

Which parts of China have no snowfall?

(By Our China Story)

There is rarely snowfall in parts of southern China and southern Yunnan all year round, including Xiamen in Fujian, Meizhou in Guangdong, Wuzhou in Guangxi, Yuanjiang in Yunnan and areas further south.

Of course, this is the case in normal years. Exceptionally strong cold waves might also bring snowfall to the above areas. 

For example, Nanning, the capital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province, both have records of snowfall.

Additionally, snowfall can be seen in some higher mountains in above areas occasionally.

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Snowfall recorded in downtown Guangzhou in 2016

In 2016, Guangzhou experienced snowfall, and citizens made small snowmen to "check-in." (Web Image)

It is worth mentioning that snowfall in Guangzhou is not a distant event. It occurred on January 24, 2016. Moreover, it wasn't in the suburbs or mountains, but in the urban area, which greatly surprised the people who witnessed it. 

So which parts of China have no snowfall?

Since the early 1950s, when official meteorological records began in China, the only province that has no snowfall record is Hainan, which is at a much lower latitude and on the northern edge of the tropics.

However, in history, Hainan has experienced snow.

From the 16th to the 19th centuries, the Earth experienced a relatively cold period known as the "Little Ice Age."

According to historical records, there was snowfall recorded in Hainan’s Qiongshan, during the reigns of Wanli Emperor in the Ming Dynasty (1572-1620), Kangxi Emperor (1661-1722) and Guangxu Emperor (1875-1908) in the Qing Dynasty.

After World War II, there have been four snowfall reports in Hong Kong.

In winter, temperatures in Hong Kong can drop below 10 degrees Celsius, but they generally do not reach conditions suitable for snowfall. (Image Source: VCG)

Hong Kong and Macao, which are located further south than Guangzhou, have also reported snowfall in winter.

The peaks of Victoria Peak and Tai Mo Shan were covered in white in January 1893.

After World War II, the Hong Kong Observatory received four snowfall reports (in February and December of 1967, January 1971, and December 1975), three of which occurred on the summit of Hong Kong's highest peak, Tai Mo Shan.

Macao, adjacent to Hong Kong with a similar climate, also experienced snow in January 1893 when Hong Kong had snowfall. This is the most reliable and credible snowfall record for Macao.

There have been occasional snowfall reports since then, but they have not been confirmed by meteorological departments.

 

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