Shanghai suffered through the hottest June 22 since record-keeping began more than 130 years ago as the mercury topped 37.3 degrees Celsius Wednesday.
The heavy use of air conditioning caused electricity consumption to soar, but the power grid operated smoothly because of added generating capacity and conservation measures imposed on selected industries.
Some motorists didn't fare as well, however. Traffic police said 31 vehicles broke down on the elevated highways between 7am and 2pm yesterday, 80 percent more than usual.
The high today should also top 35 degrees, but temperatures are set to drop to 30 degrees tomorrow and fall lower on the weekend as the result of increasing cloudiness and showers, according to the Shanghai Meteorological Bureau.
The bureau issued a yellow heat alert at 10:37 AM yesterday when the temperature hit 35 and upgraded it to orange at 37 degrees two hours later, warning people working outside to use caution. The low was 25, the same as Tuesday.
The previous record for a June 22 was 36.9 degrees, in 1951.
The hot weather pushed electricity demand to 16.43 million kilowatts yesterday, 1 million kw more than on Tuesday when the high temperature was 2.8 degrees cooler.
The Shanghai Electric Power Co has arranged for more than 2,000 enterprises to reschedule their production to weekends to scatter electricity use and reduce grid load, shaving about 350,000 kw of capacity.
Peak demand this summer is expected to reach 20.5 million kw, up 10.2 percent from last year. The load-saving measures in addition to new generating capacity and power purchases have cut the peak shortfall to 1 million kw, the lowest level in three years.
A low-pressure system will take control of the city and cool things off with clouds and rain tomorrow.
Showers are expected this evening and will continue through tomorrow, with temperatures ranging from 25 to 30 degrees.
The weekend should be wet as well, with daily highs of 28 to 29 degrees. The low should be 23 to 24 degrees.
(Shanghai Daily June 22, 2006)
