su rui ke

The first 'cold' day of the winter here: bright but with a strong northerly wind. Temperature at midday was about 7C. We might just get a frost tonight (Shanghai forecast to get down to -2C).

Not sure 'bring back acid rain' would be a vote-winner though.

Very interesting, Rollo, but which year is the article talking about?

Bit strange to have a massive dramatic headline like that and then not even have the story on their website. Can anyone summarise what the story was about? I'm sure we're all desperate to know ...

Pinball Wizard is right. It's really only once the storm has passed that you know the extent of the damage. The media here is always warning people that the most dangerous time during a typhoon is when the winds seem to be easing - you have weakened buildings and trees and water levels are often approaching their highest.

BBC World is showing pictures of water pouring back into New Orleans. We'll have to wait and see how bad it gets.

Almost unbroken sunshine here and I recorded 33.8 C at 1 pm. A bit much for mid-September even for here! Another two days of this to go apparently before the Autumn Tiger leaves us.

You do appear to have been unlucky Mr Data! We even managed to get about 10cm of snow here last March - although it was said to have been the heaviest March fall for about 30 years. More seriously, as far as 'home' in the UK goes (Dundee), like many other people on here I cannot remember when there was a March without lying snow while I was there. I suppose there must have been a few - but I think it would be rare.

I remember both 1977/78 and 1978/79 as being very snowy. As I was only 10 or 11 at the time, I often have trouble deciding which year a particular snowfall occurred in when thinking back. As well as the southwest blizzard, the 'Great Highland Blizzard' definitely also occurred in early 1978 though. That was the time when a train was completely lost for several hours north of Inverness. Did the two winters have similar synoptics, or was eastern Scotland an exception in being snowy in both '78 and '79?

Ah, indeed it was - and questions were asked in the House. This from the 'UK parliament' website (11 February 1991): Mr. David Evennett (Erith and Crayford) : I am delighted to have the opportunity to raise a number of issues concerning transport in south-east London. Given the dreadful weather that we have experienced in the past few days, I think it appropriate to begin by praising London Regional Transport for its work to keep services running in Greater London, and the local authorities- -particularly my borough of Bexley--for their sterling work in clearing and gritting London's roads. However, British Rail services in south-east London last Friday were mixed, and some were very poor. Many local people spent hours waiting for a train and more hours on the train in their endeavours to travel to work and home. Even today, the service was very poor, and the statement by British Rail's director of operations that the problem was caused by the "wrong type of snow" is quite laughable. The issues that I wish to discuss, however, relate to the local transport network as it affects my constituents--and, of course, those of my colleagues in neighbouring constituencies. I do not intend to criticise the Government or to embarrass my hon. Friend the Minister who, together with my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State and his ministerial colleagues, is trying to establish an up-to-date and coherent policy for transport in London. Many of my constituents--including me--regret the fact that such a policy is so long overdue. etc., etc. OK then, maybe I was thinking of the ill-fated APT (Advanced Passenger Train). Didn't they test-run it during the 1981/2 winter and find the poor thing couldn't cope?

Wasn't one of these snowfalls in 1981/2 the original 'wrong type of snow' event? That made the winter significant for adding a new phrase to the language as well as for its weather.

Thanks, KW - very interesting, but can anyone explain in more quantitative terms what it is that's so magical about a water temperature of 26/27 C. I mean, why can't you have a smaller system forming over water at, say, 23C? I know it's all to do with energy but I'd like to see some more numbers!

No, it really is the media we are complaining about - not you nice 'southern' people. And at least you have been good enough to acknowledge that there is a problem. I think it's notable how taking at least a little interest in the weather makes people aware of the bias that does exist in the reporting.

You might expect more political stories to originate in the capital but that's not the point. It's a question of who the organisation considers it is broadcasting to, not where its reports come from. If an organisation promotes itself as being 'national' then it has a duty not to regard a large proportion - and sometimes the majority - of its audience as being somewhere 'other'. I cannot agree with your comments about other countries either - at least as far as reporting on the weather goes. I have lived in Germany and the Netherlands and the national TV stations, at least, took care to avoid that sort of bias. Much less lazy and more professional! Come to think of it, I would say the same is true here in China. So, 'any country' - I don't think so.

I'm sure I've read about temperatures 'plummeting' to 2C in January as well! Do they ever think about what they are writing? I couldn't agree more about the south-east bias, but individual presenters (if not forecasters) are obviously always going to be tend to think that everyone in the country is experiencing the same weather as they are. This will only improve if there is a change in culture in media that claim to be national rather than regional organisations. I think some newspapers are probably beyond hope however.

Quite a hot one here. I make it 30.5 C at midday.

In fact, it looks like much of the UK has had a warmer January than we have had in Ningbo this year. I'm still trying to find some stats about the past month's weather here but my guess is that the mean temperature for the month has been below average. It's probably not that unusual for the UK to have a warmer January than this part of China (a warmer July would be a different matter!) because the winter temperatures here are surprisingly low for someone from balmy northwest Europe. These are the 1961-90 (January) means for Shanghai. Mean maximum temperature 7.7C Mean minimum temperature 0.5 C Mean temperature 3.7 C Something to consider maybe if your mean maximum was higher than 7.7C.

So, a warm, windy and DRY January for many people. B)

This is one of those winter days when parts of the UK are likely to be warmer than here - at 29 degrees north! It's a miserable day here. Just stopped raining after continuous slight rain since yesterday evening. Still overcast and windy with a temperature of about 10 C. I don't think there is much chance of a white Christmas for me though!

Well, I don't normally join in with this but it's such a perfect day here I thought I might. (This information is from the BBC website but I can confirm that it's true!) Ningbo, China 0600 GMT 9/12/04 (1400 local time) Temperature: 17 C Wind: SW at 7 mph Relative Humidity: 51% Pressure: 1024 mb (falling) Visibility: Very good So, dry and clear with wall-to-wall winter sunshine after an almost frosty start. Beautiful. :blink: