Drought -- National Drought Mitigation Center
Date of this Version
June 1994
Abstract
Beijing, located in northeast China, has a semiarid monsoon climate, with summer rainfall providing about 70% of the annual precipitation. This climate is conducive to crop growth, although insufficient summer rainfall in 1992–93 caused reductions in crop yields. Normalized departures of monthly precipitation (DR/R%) are shown in Figure 1. Although some months show above-normal precipitation (for example, November 1992, with a rainfall amount [43.3 mm] 7.5 times the normal), rainfall for the 1993 growing period was marked by negative departures from normal. Of the months of the 1993 growing season, only July recorded above-normal rainfall. Precipitation departures in May, September, and October 1993 were greater than 50%; as a result, summer corn did not germinate in some mountain areas, and it was difficult to seed winter wheat. Corn and wheat yields, in turn, were reduced.
Comments
Published in Drought Network News June 1994. Published by the International Drought Information Center and the National Drought Mitigation Center, School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska – Lincoln.