6 to 10 degrees down, up to 40 mm of snow: China's forecasters call time on a mild November

China’s National Meteorological Centre said on Friday that waves of cold air will cross the country from Saturday 14 to Wednesday 18 November¹. Across most of central and eastern China it expects cumulative temperature falls of 6 to 10°C, and more than 12°C locally in western and northern North China, south-central Inner Mongolia, the eastern North-east and the north-east of the Jiangnan region¹.

The sequence. From 14 to 16 November the cold air mainly affects areas north of the Yangtze, the centre says; on 17 and 18 November it strengthens and moves south and east¹. By the morning of 19 November the 0°C line for minimum temperatures is forecast to reach northern Jiangsu and Anhui, and average temperatures across most of the north and the Yangtze–Huai and Jiangnan regions turn from above normal to 1 to 3°C below¹. Gusts could reach around force 9 locally inland and above force 10 in parts of the eastern and southern seas¹.

Snow and rain. Where cold meets moist air there will be widespread snow and rain¹. In eastern Heilongjiang and Jilin the centre forecasts 15 to 35 mm of precipitation as snow, locally more than 40 mm, and 10 to 25 cm of new snow cover, locally more than 30 cm¹. Further south, parts of the Sichuan basin, Jianghan, Jianghuai, Jiangnan and South China get moderate to heavy rain, locally torrential, mainly on 16 November¹.

The useful part. The forecasters’ advice reads like a facilities manager’s checklist: reinforce greenhouses, temporary structures and wide-span roofs, clear snow before it piles up, secure billboards against the wind, watch for forest and grassland fires in the north, and take care with fire and electricity when heating¹. Not one line of it is about a record. All of it is about who pays if a roof gives way.

For you. A sudden drop after a warm spell is where cold does its damage, to crops under plastic, to roofs and to people who had not yet switched the heating on. The same checklist works in Brandenburg.