Beijing gets long-awaited snow

Beijing gets long-awaited snow

First precipitation in 106 days in China's capital as drought threatens crucial wheat crops in the country's northeast.

Steff Gaulter Last Modified: 10 Feb 2011 10:06 GMT

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Beijing has finally seen some snow.

This is the first time they've seen any precipitation at all since 26 October, and it's not just Beijing. Six provinces in the northeast of the country are in the grip of a drought, and this is the heart of the wheat-growing region.

China is the world’s largest wheat producer and despite temperatures dropping down to an average of minus 10 Celsius in January, 18 per cent of global wheat production is grown in this region in winter.

Winter wheat is sown in mid-September or October and harvested in mid-May or June. Normally it only takes around 120 days to grow, but during the frigid temperatures between December and February, winter wheat lies dormant. A coating of snow should protect the plants from the severity of the Chinese winter, but this year there hasn't been any.

Without this layer of snow the plants are vulnerable and soil moisture levels are affected. At least this winter has been fairly mild so far. The real concern is that the temperature might dip or the drought will continue into the spring growing season.

The Chinese Government has claimed that Thursday’s snowfall was thanks to its manipulation of the weather. It is reporting to have fired silver iodide particles into the skies, which act as nuclei allowing raindrops to form, a technique known as cloud-seeding.

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