Society

Beijingers must battle hot weather for 2 more days

By Zhang Jiawei (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-07-29 14:30

Beijing's maximum temperature will continue to linger around 35 degrees Celsius for two more days, the Beijing Meteorological Station said Wednesday in its fifth consecutive yellow alert warning for high temperatures.

The city is expected to shake off the heat by a much-anticipated rain on Saturday, which will bring the maximum temperature down to around 31 degrees, Xinhua News Agency reported, citing an unnamed meteorological expert.

Visitors wearing hats to shield themselves from the sun check a road map at Olympic Park in Beijing, July 28, 2010. [Photo/Xinhua]

The maximum temperature in Beijing rose to 35.5 degrees at 3:00 pm on Wednesday, the 10th day above 35 degrees after the city was hit by a heat wave on July 23. The relative humidity has also been above 50 percent for days, a reading that can easily cause heat strokes in the hot summer.

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Meteorological expert Zhang Mingying said high humidity and temperature would continue for the next two days, and this kind of hot weather with higher humidity than usual has a bigger impact on people because it makes it difficult for people to cool down by perspiring.

"Patients to our hospital increased rapidly after schools let out for summer vacation. We received 8,400 patients at the peak," said a staffer at a children's hospital in Beijing.

Doctors warned that children are most vulnerable to high temperatures with high humidity because their immune systems were not mature enough to deal with this kind of weather.

The heat has made Beijing's subway commuters suffer more despite the usual crowd. Subway management has installed bigger fans in trains that don't have air conditioners and replaced some old trains with air-conditioned ones.

The hot weather also sent Beijing's electricity use to a record high of 15.97 million kilowatts, exceeding the expected maximum of 15.7 million kilowatts, the Beijing News reported Thursday.

Beijing's electric power company handed out 74 emergency electricity cards from July 24 to 27 to help resume power supply for residents who ran out of power, the newspaper said.

Meteorological experts said the city's temperature is expected to go down to 30 degrees on Saturday and 29 degrees on Sunday.

Visitors to Olympic Park in Beijing use umbrellas to shield themselves from the sun, July 28, 2010. [Photo/Xinhua]