Off the wire
• 1st LD Writethru: S. Korea keeps interest rates at record low  • Six former PMs unite for two Australians on death row in Indonesia  • U.S. "gravely concerned" by continuing violence in Ukraine  • Gold price opens lower in Hong Kong  • Urgent: S. Korea keeps interest rate at record low of 2 pct  • 1st LD: Tsunami warning issued after 6.9-magnitude quake hits off northeastern Japan  • Xinhua world news summary at 0045 GMT, Feb. 17  • Train derails in West Virginia, causing explosions  • Dollar trades in mid-118 yen range in early Tokyo deals  • Tokyo stocks open lower on profit taking, Greece concerns  
You are here: 　 Home/ Environment

Brace for rain, chill during festive period

Shanghai Daily, February 17, 2015 Adjust font size:

A father carries his son on his shoulders in downtown Shanghai Monday in lingering smog with temperatures touching 17 degrees Celsius. Forecasters are predicting a wet week for the Chinese New Year holiday which starts tomorrow. [Shanghai Daily] 

If you made plans to roam Shanghai during the Spring Festival holiday, the umbrellas may come in handy.

The Shanghai Meteorological Bureau said yesterday that it would rain during the Chinese New Year holiday with the highs dropping to low teens.

However, residents heading out to celebrate the Chinese New Year’s Eve on February 18 need not worry as it was likely to remain dry.

The first day of the Year of the Sheep on February 19 is also expected to be dry, although there may be some concerns over fog and smog.

The smoggy and polluted conditions are expected to be washed away by rains, which are expected late on Friday, because of increasing warm moisture.

The wet days will last until early next week.

Highs during the Spring Festival will range from 11 to 14 degrees. The maximum 14 degrees is expected to occur on Saturday, while the festival’s first day (Thursday) and the end (next Tuesday) will see a high of 11.

The lows will fluctuate between 3 and 4 degrees between Wednesday and Friday. It will climb to 7 to 9 degrees from Saturday till next Tuesday.

A weak cold front kept moving southwards, bringing with it particles and raising the air quality index to its peak at 185 at 11am yesterday. The concentration of PM2.5 hit 140 micrograms per cubic meter — nearly six times the World Health Organization’s safety guideline. The pollution level was marked as moderately polluted.

The air quality will get better but some light pollution will exist, the Shanghai Environmental Monitoring Center said.