Record Low Temps. Reported across Asia

Deadly cold spell kills dozens of people in Taiwan Japan, Vietnam, China, S. Korea…

Taiwan. Record cold over the weekend has killed about 100 people.

• A sudden drop in Taipei city temperature plunged the mercury to a record low of 4ºC (39F)on Sunday.

South Korea. About 1,000 flights were cancelled, stranding more than 90,000 tourists on Jeju  island, as temperatures fell to record lows.

• Seoul temperature fell to -18ºC, the lowest since Jan. 15, 2001, the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) said.
• Temperature in North Korea’s northeastern tip fell to -37.5ºC on Saturday night, said the South Korean weather agency.
• Pyongyang temperature fell from -15ºCon Saturday to -19ºC early Sunday.
• Radio Free Asia reported Saturday that more than 40,000 North Korean workers had been withdrawn from construction sites due to big freezing, said the report.

Vietnam and Thailand. Record or near-record low temperatures affected much of the two countries.

Southern and eastern China.  First snow in fifty years blanketed Guangzhou, capital of south China’s Guangdong Province, over the weekend.

• “China’s national observatory on Sunday evening renewed its orange alert for a cold wave as most parts of the country experienced the coldest weather in decades in the weekend.”
• At least four fatalities have been reported.
• In Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, the fisheries authorities reported the loss of 54 tons of product as of Sunday due to the cold.

Hong Kong. Temperature fell to a record low of

Japan. Snowstorms hammered large portions of Japan, killing at least 8 people, leaving hundreds injured, and forcing scores of flight cancellations.

• Snow reported in Okinawa for the first time ever.