China Reports Coldest Winter In 100 Years In Hunan, Hubei Provinces - Reuters

[hatrack]

CHENZHOU, China - Millions remained stranded in China on Monday ahead of the biggest holiday of the year as parts of the country suffered their coldest winter in a century.

Freezing weather has killed scores of people and left travellers stranded before the Lunar New Year, or Spring Festival -- the only opportunity many people have for a holiday all year. It has also brought China unwanted negative publicity six months before the Summer Olympics in Beijing.

President Hu Jintao chaired an emergency Politburo meeting on Sunday for the second time in a week to discuss rescue efforts. "We have to be clear-minded that the inclement weather and severe disaster will continue to plague certain regions in the south," said a statement issued after Sunday's meeting. "Relief work will continue to face challenges, posing a tough task."

The China Meteorological Administration said the weather was the coldest in 100 years in central Hubei and Hunan provinces, going by the total number of consecutive days of average temperature less than 1 degree Celsius (33.8 degrees Fahrenheit).

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http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/46780/story.htm

[Tashca]

1. Talking to my chinese neighbor

We were out scooping snow. We came close to setting a one day record for snow fall here in east central Iowa.....We are about 3 inches short of a winter record for most snow fall ever here. We still have the rest of February and March to go.

I asked her about the disaster in China.....she told me it was bad. She said this area is equivalent to Florida in the U.S. We talked about this weather here.....She said....this thing is global!!.....this thing is global!!....then proceeded to tell me about all this intense weather all over the world. She was very well informed...I was impressed....although I had a hard time understanding most of it....accent.

[emmadoggy]

2. Welcome to DU, Bellator.

I'm in the NE corner of Iowa. We just dodged this latest weather bullet - ended up with only a couple inches, it skirted just to the south of us. Hope you are getting dug out ok.

How much did you end up with?

This has been the most "wintery" winter I can remember for quite a while.

[Tashca]

3. Thank you for the welcome

We ended up with about 12 inches. The one day record for us is 14.5 inches.....so we didn't beat that.
Before the storm we were @15 inches short of a new winter total. So as you can see we will probably have no problem beating that. So much of the country is having devastating weather. I'm not going to complain about a few extra hours of moving snow.
This has been one of the worst winters I can remember for along time too. You guys up north are much more used to this........Every year I think harder about moving south. But I stay...:)