2008 Chinese winter storms

2008 Chinese winter storms

Residents battle China’s worst snow storm nail in 50 years
Type	Series of low pressure systems and cold snap
Formed	25 January 2008
Dissipated	6 February 2008
Damage	At least 151.65 billion Chinese yuan
Areas affected	Hubei, Hunan, Zhejiang, Guizhou, Guangdong, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Fujian, Henan, Shandong, Jiangsu, Anhui, Shanghai, Chongqing, Shanxi, Sichuan

The 2008 Chinese winter storms (2008年中国雪灾、2008年中国南方雪灾) were a series of winter storm events that affected large portions of southern and central China starting on 25 January 2008 until 6 February 2008. The systems affected most of the area with heavy snows, ice and cold temperatures causing extensive damage and transportation disruption for several thousand travelers. It became China's worst winter weather in half a century. According to some media sources the storms were directly responsible for at least 129 deaths.

The series of severe winter events started on 10 January when a large dome of cold air enveloped most parts of China, causing much precipitation in the form of heavy snow west of the coastal areas, where the temperature was dropped to slightly below 0 °C (32 °F). The provinces of Hunan, Hubei, Henan, Shandong, Jiangsu, Anhui and the municipality of Shanghai were hardest hit. Some received their worst snow storms in seventeen years while some experienced their worst in five decades. After the first wave of precipitation had passed through, snow continued to fall throughout several days following, accompanied by bitterly cold weather.

Snow was even reported in the country's largest true desert, the Taklamakan, where the snow and record low temperatures near −25 °C (−13 °F) lasted 11 consecutive days and killed livestock. At one point, the temperature dropped to −32 °C (−26 °F), breaking the January 2006 record of −26.1 °C (−15.0 °F), though the historical temperature series in this observatory is very short (started in 1996). The snow depth exceeded 4 centimetres (1.6 in) at times in the center of the desert according to the Tazhong Observatory. According to Xinhua, it was the first time that snow covered the entire desert at the same time.