Snowfall ends Beijing's longest dry spell in 47 years

Light snowfall today ended the 145-day long dry spell in Beijing, the city's longest in 47 years.

People rushed outdoors to celebrate the wet weather after a long brake of over four months. The snow hit most parts of the city, with a maximum precipitation of 2.8 mm in Yanqing District and an average of 0.3 mm citywide.

The capital had recorded 145 consecutive days without "effective precipitation", its longest dry spell in at least 47 years, Met officials said.

"Effective precipitation refers to rain or snow of more than 0.1 mm as monitored by a southern suburban observatory, and the observatory recorded a precipitation of 0.4 mm this time," Li Xiaoyan, a senior engineer with the municipal meteorological observatory told state run Xinhua news agency.

The previous record of the longest dry spell was between October 1970 and February 1971, when the city experienced a 114-day rainless streak.