Temperatures were slightly warmer than average last week although a cold wave over the weekend caused large drops in much of the country.
The temperature drop was so sharp that some cities in northern areas are extending their district heating. Many cities in northern China provide heat in cities through centralized hot water and steam infrastructure. Tangshan, in Hebei, said it was delaying the spring shutoff of the system by a week.
While the drop in temperatures was sharp, it was also brief. After getting down to 4C (40F) over the weekend in Shanghai, temperatures are expected to hit highs of 24C (76F) on Wednesday. The cold snap also isn’t seen as hurting winter wheat crops.
Over the next week, temperatures are expected to be above average and keep rising. There is currently no significant precipitation in the forecast for major winter wheat areas over the 10 days and the National Meteorological Center has warned about mild drought conditions appearing in some localized areas.
Soil moisture levels are still good across most of the winter wheat belt, but some areas in the further north are now registering mild deficits of soil moisture.
Remoting sensing data for the region also has nearly all of the crop in normal to above-average conditions.
