State of China's climate in 2021

Abstract

This report is a summary of China's climate, as well as major weather and climate events, during 2021. In 2021, the mean temperature in China was 10.5°C, which was 1.0°C above normal (1981–2010 average) and broke the highest record since 1951. The annual rainfall in China was 672.1 mm, which was 6.7% above normal. Also, the annual rainfall in northern China was 40.2% above normal, which ranked second highest since 1961. The rainstorm intensity in the rainy season was strong and featured significant extremes, and disasters caused by rainstorms and flooding were more serious than the average in the past decade. In particular, the extremely strong rainstorm in Henan during July and autumn caused flooding in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River with severe consequences. Heatwaves occurred more frequently than normal, and their durations in southern China were longer than normal in summer and autumn. Phased drought was obvious, and caused serious impacts in South China. The number of generated and landfalling typhoons was lower than normal; however, Typhoon In-fa broke the record for the longest overland duration, held since 1949, and affected a wide area. Severe convective weather and extreme windy weather occurred frequently, causing serious impacts. The number of cold waves was more than normal, which caused wide-ranging extremely low temperatures in many places. Sandstorms appeared earlier than normal in 2021, and the number of strong dust storm processes was more than normal.摘要2021年, 中国气候暖湿特征明显, 全国平均气温10.5℃, 较常年偏高1.0℃, 创下了1951年以来最高纪录; 全国平均降水量672.1毫米, 比常年偏多6.7%, 其中北方地区平均降水量较常年偏多40.2%, 为1961年以来第二多. 汛期暴雨过程强度大, 极端性显著, 河南特大暴雨灾害影响重, 黄河中下游流域秋汛明显; 高温过程多, 夏秋南方高温持续时间长; 区域性, 阶段性气象干旱明显, 华南干旱影响较重; 台风生成和登陆均偏少, “烟花”陆地滞留时间长, 影响范围广; 强对流天气强发, 极端大风频发, 局地致灾重; 寒潮过程多, 强度大, 极端低温频现; 沙尘天气出现早, 强沙尘暴过程多.