Shanghai sweats through hottest July on record

SHANGHAI - Shanghai is set to have the hottest July since weather records started being kept 140 years ago, local meteorological authorities said Monday.

The Chinese financial and business center had 23 days in July when the daily high temperature was recorded at or above 35 degrees Celsius, equalling the current record, according to the city's meteorological center.

Temperatures are forecast to hit up to 39 degrees Celsius on Tuesday and Wednesday, the last two days of July, which would make it the hottest July on record, it said.

Shanghai saw a high of 39.1 degrees Celsius on Monday, the 7th straight day for temperatures to rise above 38 degrees Celsius, marking the longest period of such hot weather on record.

The heat is showing no signs of waning in the near future and the temperature may exceed 40 degrees Celsius again in early August, when subtropical high pressure strengthens, the center said.

Strong, stable subtropical high pressure and the absence of typhoons contributed to the record-hot weather, it added.

Shanghai's neighboring province of Zhejiang and the central province of Hunan have also been plagued by hot weather this summer.

Many cities in Zhejiang saw temperatures rise above 40 degrees Celsius on a couple days last week. Meanwhile, the heat is worsening the drought in the province, which received 74 percent less rain than normal in the first 29 days of July.

Many cities in Hunan also endured record-high temperatures this month. The provincial capital Changsha reported temperatures at or above 35 degrees Celsius in all of the past 29 days.

The province also received over 70 percent less rain than normal this month, leaving 33 counties and cities to contend with a severe drought.

Hot weather in the coming week, when temperatures could rise to 41 degrees Celsius in Hunan's central and eastern parts, could further worsen the drought situation, said the provincial meteorological center.