Rare Snow Hits Southern China, Historical Low Temperature Records Tumble; A Fierce Cold Wave Sweeps Through The Arctic Stratosphere; + Iceland Has Cracked Open

“Now we see the earth opening up”.

Rare Snow Hits Southern China, Historical Low Temperature Records Tumble

China's Arctic Outbreak is refusing to let up, this week delivering rare snowfall as far south Guangdong province, while temperatures across the 9.6 million km² country continue to fell historical benchmarks.

Forecasters just last month had predicted a warmer winter this year due to El Niño.

On Monday, however, snow was falling across Guangdong in the southeast, even blanketing regions located on the coast.

Rare flurries were also seen in the commercial hub Shanghai on Monday.

Much of eastern China has experienced heavy snow in recent days. The 18cm (7.1 inches) that settled in Jintan, Jinagsu province broke the city's December snow depth record. In fact, the eastern province of Jinagsu is packed with record-breakers.

“Heavy snowfall in eastern China continues, with 6 to 15cm of snow in southern Jiangsu, and the depth of snow in some places breaks the December record!” — Jim Yang on X

Yet another fierce cold wave is forecast to enter China this week, one that is expected to deliver additional cold records across the country, including to southern provinces.

Records to accompany the myriad to have already fallen, including, but not limited to, the -48.4C in Inner Mongolia; the -31.9C in Datong (breaking the old record of -31.1C); the -31.9C in Yunzhou; the -26.8C in Yangqu (besting the old benchmark of -25.7C); Qinghe's -22.6 (breaking -21.6C); Tianjin's -17.9C; and Beijing's -15.5C (the capital's lowest December temperature since 1971).