This past July has been the hottest month in 50 years for people in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province, with an average daily maximum temperature of over 35.7 degrees Celsius.

Wuhan is one of the three "hot pots" in China, which are famous for their hot weather in summer. The other two cities are Chongqing and Nanjing.

However, the heat that appeared in the rainy season in the city was rare. The July precipitation was 54 percent lower than the same time in a normal year. From June 21 to July 20, the city witnessed the driest weather in history.

Zheng Qisong, chief engineer with the municipal Meteorological Bureau, said the average temperature in the city was 31.7 degrees Celsius in July, which has been second only to the record of 32.5 degrees made in July of 1934. The city started keeping meteorological records in 1907.

The highest temperature appeared on July 2, while the maximum temperature was 40 degrees Celsius in the city proper.

(People's Daily 08/05/2001)