Unless you are one of our many readers in southern China, you will have noticed a considerable dip in the mercury this morning. As we say hello to December and wake up to the first sub-zero temperatures of this winter, it’s time for the official outlook.
As we start off 2022, it looks as if we are in for an interesting season here in Nanjing and in Jiangsu Province as a whole. For if climatic predictions are to be believed, it will be a winter characterised by great fluctuations in temperature.
Before the specifics though, the broader picture. The world in general is in for warmer-than-normal winter, but especially in northern Europe, and western and central Siberia, where warm anomalies are likely to exceed 2 degrees Celsius.
The predictions come to us from the Nanjing-based Institute for Climate and Application Research (ICAR). That same body also reveals, however, that there will be a trend towards colder temperatures in southern parts of Africa, Brazil, the North American west coast and north-eastern Siberia.
On a more local level, the boring part of the news is that we are in for a pretty normal winter thru February, 2022, but only as regards average temperatures.
According to Jiangsu Meteorology, northern Jiangsu shall experience temperatures 0 ~ 1 degree Celsius lower than the average winter, while in the more southerly parts of the Province, including Nanjing, it will be 0 ~ 1 degree Celsius warmer.
But this winter will turn interesting with spells which, while frequent but not particularly lengthy, will be very cold. Northern Jiangsu can expect it to dip to -11 ~ -13 degrees Celsius sometime in January, while in the south, the lows shall reach -9 ~ -11 degrees Celsius.
And those average numbers mentioned earlier also therefore imply we will be enjoying the other end of the scale sometimes too, i.e. winter days that are positively balmy.
Predictions are also pointing to a pretty dry winter this year, which will certainly help to keep the chills away from our bones in normally-humid Nanjing. In Jiangsu overall, precipitation through 2021/2022 is set to likely be 10~20 percent less than the average winter.
On the healthcare front though, the cold spells will bring on more respiratory illnesses, playing havoc with epidemic prevention efforts. The Nanjinger has but four words of advice. Don’t get a cold.
