China’s Xinjiang region is facing an unprecedented cold spell, marking its harshest winter in over six decades. Temperatures plummeted to a staggering minus 52.3 degrees Celsius (minus 63.4 degrees Fahrenheit), breaking a 64-year-old record.
This extreme weather event occurred amid traffic disruptions following the Lunar New Year holiday, further complicating the situation for residents and travellers alike.
The sudden and dramatic temperature drop had immediate and tragic consequences for the region’s wildlife. A significant number of waterfowl were caught off guard by the rapid onset of freezing temperatures, resulting in their instantaneous freezing in the lakes before they could escape. Additionally, footage emerged of wolves tunneling through the deep snow that blanketed Xinjiang.
The severe drop in temperature is part of a broader pattern of unusual weather phenomena affecting China, attributed to factors such as the weakening of the polar vortex, which allows cold air from the Arctic to move southward, and changes in global climate patterns.
Exploring Nature
«China: The worst cold spell in over six decades saw Xinjiang freeze at -52.3°C temperature,
Temperatures broke a 64-year-old record in China’s far western region of Xinjiang, plunging to a bone-chilling minus 52.3 degrees Celsius.
Waterfowl have frozen to… pic.twitter.com/i2CmkUrpcz
— MartinC2Janssen (@zauberberg188) February 21, 2024
