Xinjiang City just broke its own winter record. After 64 years, the city felt the chill with a bone-numbing temperature of -52.3°C, getting close to claiming the title of the world’s coldest city.
In China, some places are really battling against some crazy weather, and Xinjiang is one of them. This city way out west in China saw a major drop in temperature.
As per Channel News Asia on Tuesday (20/2/2024), the coldest day ever recorded in Xinjiang was back on January 21, 1960, when it dipped to a frigid minus 51.5°C.
That’s just 5 degrees away from Yakutsk in Russia, which holds the title for the world’s coldest city, with a chilling -58°C.
The wild weather has left roads buried under snow for days along a whopping 853 km stretch. This situation pushed highway folks to send out 47 vehicles and 86 rescuers to clear the snow in one night.
According to the Ministry of Transportation, places like Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Liaoning, Jilin, and Heilongjiang have shut down 43 road sections and 623 toll stations.
The national weather folks have hoisted the freeze weather warning to the second-highest level. This drastic temperature plunge is expected to stick around until Thursday (22/2).
China has been dealing with all sorts of extreme weather over the past year, from sandstorms to heavy rains and blistering heat, setting records left and right during the summer.
Just this past weekend, massive sandstorms covered several cities in the Ningxia Hui region, including the capital, Yinchuan.