MOON Desk: China’s northernmost city, Mohe, has recorded its lowest temperature since records began, reports BBC News.
Mohe – known as “China’s North Pole” – is in the province of Heilongjiang, close to the Russian border.
on Monday, its local meteorological station recorded a record-low temperature of -53C (-63F) at 7am. The previous coldest temperature on record in the city was 52.3C, in 1969.
However, the temperature is still shy of China’s national record.
The coldest temperature ever recorded in China is -58C, in the city of Genhe, Inner Mongolia in December 2009.
By contrast, the lowest temperature recorded in the UK is -27.2C, set in different parts of Scotland in 1895, 1982 and 1995.
Mohe is no stranger to cold weather: China Daily says the city is regarded as the coldest in China, and that its winter period “usually lasts eight months”.
As a result, it attracts tourists throughout the year with its “North Pole”, ice and snow parks, and skiing venues. In previous years, it has also hosted winter marathons.
This time of year, it is common for the city to see average temperatures of -15C.
In the past week, China’s meteorological authority issued alerts for plunging temperatures and cold winds in the region.
The Xinhua News Agency said a number of areas in the Greater Khingan mountain range, which spans Inner Mongolia and Heilongjiang, saw new record low temperatures over the weekend.
Since Friday, temperatures dipped below -50C in Mohe for three consecutive days, which outlets have said is unprecedented.
