Snow in July?

According to local media, Beijing experienced a freak summer snowfall for five minutes on Monday evening. Perhaps it’s just another “cardboard baozi” story, but according to the Beijing Youth Daily, at about 6pm on July 30, residents around the Eastern Third Ring road reported a flurry of unexpected snow. The article quotes a Li Xiaojie, who lives by Changhong Qiao, describing how she saw black clouds approaching from the southwest. She then went to her window to watch the impending downpour, only to be surprised by snowflakes descending from the sky instead. Ms. Li was not alone; other residents attested to the bizarre meteorological occurrence as well. After about five minutes, the snow gave way to the typical Beijing summer rainstorm.

Still we remain skeptical – apparently Ms. Li received payment from the paper for alerting them to the news item, no photos of the snow fall were posted online (what, no-one had a mobile phone handy to catch this extraordinary event?) and there seems to be no record of anything like this ever happening before.

The report, which was syndicated by many other local media, including Xinhua and CCTV, offered quotes from meteorological experts explaining that in summer when hot and cold air currents mix, there is the possibility that a rain cloud containing snow crystals will be pushed towards the ground and in such situations it is possible that snow may fall in a limited area for a short period of time.

Others have turned to more traditional explanations for the freak storm, suggesting that the Gods are displaying their anger at all manner of social injustices, including the rising price of everything from housing to fangbian mian.

Links and Sources
Beijing Youth Daily: 数伏天京城意外飘雪花
Net Ease: 北京伏天意外飘雪花 整个过程持续5分钟左右
Net Ease BBS: 北京伏天意外飘雪花　过程持续5分钟左右
Xinhua: 北京伏天意外飘雪花 整个过程只持续5分钟左右
CCTV: 北京伏天意外飘雪花 整个过程持续5分钟左右