An Early 'August Snowstorm' Hits Baekdusan... Southern China Continues to Suffer 40°C Heatwave

Authorities Close Entire Cheonji Area

Snowfall on Baekdusan Mountain
[Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Kim Nayeon] Local reports have conveyed that an early heavy snowfall occurred on Baekdusan.

According to the People's Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party, on the 28th, a large amount of snow fell in the Baekdusan area of Jilin Province, China, accompanied by gusts of wind from the night of the 26th to the morning of the 27th. The snow was reported to have concentrated near Cheonji, the crater lake at the summit of the tourist destination Baekdusan.

Baekdusan, with a maximum height of 2744m, receives snow earlier than other regions in China every year, but local media reported that heavy snowfall in August is extremely unusual.

The authorities have closed off the Cheonji area and prohibited access, deploying personnel to carry out snow removal operations. They have urged tourists to pay attention to safety.

Earlier, on the 9th, a landslide involving soil and rocks occurred near the northern summit of Baekdusan, prompting the emergency evacuation of about 100 people.

Local authorities explained that the ground was weakened due to heavy rain earlier this month.

On the 19th, the first snowfall since Ipchu (August 7) this year was recorded in the Aletai area of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, an inland basin in western China.

In Daxing'anling, Heilongjiang Province in the northeast, a heavy snowfall of a scale typical of winter occurred from the night of the 17th of last month to the early morning of the next day, with a cumulative precipitation of 16.8mm and a snowfall of 3cm.

Meanwhile, the heatwave in central and southern China continues to rage.

The China Meteorological Administration issued a warning stating that the daytime maximum temperature in 19 locations in central and southern China will rise up to 39 degrees Celsius today, with some areas such as Sichuan and Chongqing exceeding 40 degrees Celsius.

This high-temperature warning in the region has been issued for 39 consecutive days this year, marking the longest period since meteorological observations began in 1961.