Is winter here? Is winter coming earlier and earlier? | Data Weather Station

After suffering from rounds of cold waves, the temperature dropped and snow fell across the country. After the "quick freeze", many netizens shivered and shouted that the test of this winter came too early!

Has winter really come early?

Although the cold air is quite strong, whether winter is coming or not still depends on data.

01

At present, where is winter’s “sphere of influence”?

Winter means "the end, when all things are stored". So, when does winter begin?

At present, meteorologically speaking, when the sliding mean temperature is below 10℃ for five consecutive days, the winter standard is reached, and the first date in the corresponding temperature sequence where the temperature is below 10℃ is regarded as the starting date of winter.

According to this standard, at present (as of November 29), most parts of my country are already in the "sphere of influence" of winter, except for South China, southern Central China, southern East China and southern Yunnan.

How long does the winter rhythm differ in different regions?

02

China is a vast country with different climates in the east, west, south and north. Winter in the north comes earlier and lasts longer than in the south.

Throughout the year, winter's "sphere of influence" gradually extends from north to south across the country.

Before October, northeastern Inner Mongolia, northwestern Heilongjiang, most of Qinghai, northern and western Tibet will be the first to enter winter;

In October, most of Northeast China, northern and western North China, western and southern Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, northern Shaanxi, most of Gansu, most of Xinjiang, northwestern Sichuan, and southern Tibet followed closely;

In November, the cold front was overwhelming, and winter came to southeastern North China, Huanghuai, Jianghuai, Jianghan, southern Shaanxi, northeastern Sichuan, most of Guizhou, and northern Yunnan.

Finally, in December, southeastern Sichuan, most of Chongqing, southern Hunan, Jiangxi, most of Zhejiang, northern Fujian, central Yunnan and other places also enter winter.

However, the central and southern parts of South China, including Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, and Hainan, are outside the "sphere of influence" of winter and have no winter all year round.

Throughout the year, the northern region is undoubtedly far ahead in terms of the number of winter days.

The winter length in the northern part of Northeast China, the eastern part of Inner Mongolia, most of Tibet, and most of Qinghai is more than 200 days;

The northern part of North China, the southern part of Northeast China, the western part of Xinjiang, and the western part of Gansu have 150 to 200 days;

The winter length in southern North China, Jianghuai, Jianghan, western Sichuan, central Guizhou, and most of Hunan is 100 to 150 days; while in most other areas the winter length is less than 100 days.

03

Winters with a difference of more than 100 days

According to the average length of winter in some cities from 2010 to 2020, is the length of winter in different cities the same as you imagine?

Yinchuan is located deep in the northwest inland plateau and belongs to the mid-temperate arid climate zone. The winter is long but not extremely cold. In the past ten years, the average length of winter in Yinchuan is 161 days.

Shanghai, a city located in the central and eastern part of my country, has a subtropical marine monsoon climate. The winters are cold and the average length of winter is 96 days.

Further south, Chongqing in the southwest region has a subtropical monsoon humid climate. Winter comes late and leaves early, with an average length of only 52 days.

Winter starting earlier?

04

Back to our original question, is winter really coming earlier and earlier?

We selected three cities in different regions.

Take Yinchuan as an example. Since 1961, the meteorological winter date in Yinchuan has been significantly delayed, by one day every ten years. The main reason is global warming.

Wang Suyan, chief of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region Climate Center, said that climate warming has changed the rhythm of the four seasons, lengthening summer and shortening spring, autumn and winter. The shortening of winter is mainly manifested in the postponement of the start date of winter and the advancement of the end date, among which the advance of the end date is significantly greater than the delay of the start date.

Looking at Shanghai, in the past twenty years, the arrival of winter has also been later than in the last century.

Also according to historical data from 1961 to 2020, the earliest winter in Chongqing was November 22, 1962, and the latest winter was January 10, 2016.

Against the backdrop of global warming, the onset of winter in Chongqing is gradually becoming later.

According to the analysis of Tang Hongyu, chief engineer and second-level researcher of Chongqing Climate Center, the overall temperature in Chongqing is on the rise, especially in autumn and winter when the average temperature rises significantly.

However, there are certain differences in the changes in average temperature in each season. In recent years (2013-2020), the average temperatures in Chongqing in autumn and winter have continued to be higher, by 0.35℃ and 0.81℃ respectively, resulting in a delay in the onset of winter and an early start of winter.

Since the 21st century, Chongqing has also seen a significant increase in spring temperature, with the average spring temperature being 0.76℃ higher, causing the arrival of spring to be earlier and the duration of winter to be shortened.

Although winter is cold

But there is always some unique romance and happiness

Most importantly

Winter is coming

Can spring be far behind?

Produced by China Meteorological News Agency

Planning: Zhang Hongwei, Wang Meili

Expert Advisor: Zhou Bing, Chief of Climate Services at the National Climate Center

Data support: Gong Xiaoli, Yu Yaqing, Zhang Yan, Zhang Cuiping, Xie Liping, Zhang Qian, Zhou Rong, Pu Xi, Li Xiaopeng, Zhu Xiaowei, Jiang Ping, etc.

Map: Ding Qian

Editor: Ting Nan

Review: Duan Haoshu