The Beijing Weather, or "Fogging Hell"

[roddy]

Is it just me or is today the foggiest day we've had in Beijing for a long time? I mean, we get a few foggy days every year, but I can't remember it being this thick since . . . 2003? I'm on the 22nd floor and even the ground is hazy.

And on a related note, is anyone else worried by the mild winter. I'm concerned this will mean a hot summer, and I'm no fan of Beijing's summers as it is . .

Fog pic:

The next day:

[trevelyan]

I'm worried by the mildness of the winters in general. Not just in Beijing. Toronto was 5 degrees over Christmas this year.

[heifeng]

I just remember setting off fire crackers last Chinese new year until I thought I'd have to get a little piggy or two amputated due to frostbite. This year I was wearing my spring/fall jacket with no thermals aka longjohns aka qiuku (or whatever they are called, but I hate wearing them anyway)!!! Yet these mild winters just make me worry for the polar bears (sigh) ~I don't really mind how hot it is going to get during the summer though since building AC's will be blasting no matter what the temperature is in Beijing.

Back to the fog: The first 2 days it was this foggy and I was getting major headaches, what was the pollution index? Was that really fog or some mysterious chemical drift....that has not yet gone away...

I'll trade the fog for thunderstorms, but not sandstorms.

[gougou]

I don't really mind how hot it is going to get during the summer though since building AC's will be blasting no matter what the temperature is in Beijing.

Obviously, they'll have to blast more the hotter it gets. And the more they blast, the more you should worry about those polar bears...

[Impala1ss]

I'm new in Beijing and surprised at the fog. Is there a website for Beijing weather/temperature?

[adrianlondon]

As Beijing is classed as a desert, and is very dry, I think you all mean "smog" not "fog".

[xuechengfeng]

Funny that you mention it, roddy... I was supposed to fly back to America through Beijing on February 21 :tong

I ended up having a flight from Vladivostok to Beijing diverted, sat on the tarmac for 5 hours, finally arrived only to miss my flight and fly out on the beautiful day seen in your second picture.

[[欧阳江]]

I'm also a bit puzzled about the recent weather in Beijing. It's not the usual polluted air we're all so familiar with, it's more damp! The things is, if Beijing air weren't so dry, I wouldn't give it a second thought and just treat it like regular fog. Better stay inside (nothing new there) and keep the air purifier running .

[Shadowdh]

As Beijing is classed as a desert, and is very dry, I think you all mean "smog" not "fog".

You can still get fog in a desert... just not as often... (unless you were being ironic like, in which case I should turn on my irony detector... )

[adrianlondon]

Nope, wasn't being ironic; just that in the 5 months I spent in Beijing I never saw any fog. Saw loads of yellow smog though. I hope it is fog!

[roddy]

Well come back then and make the fog go away.

You do get fog here, it's just not very frequent. It's hard to tell when smog ends and fog starts , though a burning sensation in all respiratory organs generally indicates smog.

[adrianlondon]

Well come back then and make the fog go away.

Well, all I'd replace it with would be smog, so I think you're better off as you are!

[roddy]

I spoke too soon. We're obviously in for a long snowy summer, not a hot one. Far too late to check meteorological records, but March is kind of late for snow. No?

[roddy]

Is anybody near a window? There's something odd going on outside . . the sky is . . . almost blue. Big ball of yellow flame hanging up there. Anyone else seeing this? It seems vaguely familiar yet I can't quite put a name to it . . .

[zhwj]

It seems vaguely familiar yet I can't quite put a name to it

Mass hallucination, I'd call it.

[zhwj]

This fog really impairs your judgment: this morning there was a fire in my building, and I was awakened by people chattering outside. When I looked out the window, I couldn't see anything in the courtyard for all the smoke. My first thought was "crappy Beijing weather" and I went back to sleep...

[roddy]

Not sure you can blame the fog for you being dozy, especially as it isn't too bad - over this part of town anyway. Did you evacuate the building in the end?

[zhwj]

Nah. Nothing in the building will burn. It was a grease fire from one of the first-floor kitchens.

My point was, though, that normally I would have recognized smoke, but in this case I just figured it was another foggy Beijing day, which, of course, it isn't.

[gougou]

Does anybody think it strange that after days of rain, we had blue skies starting 08/08? Did they testrun their meteorologic artillery, or was it just a coincidence?

[heifeng]

I said the same exact thing during those down pours....I think it was 'extreme' man-made rain as well...