Geographic Location

Quzhou is located in the western Zhejiang Provincesits on the upper course of the Qiantang River, at the western end of the Jinhua-Quzhou Basin, connecting Nanping of Fujian Province in the south, Shangrao and Jingdezhen of Jiangxi Province in the west, Huangshan of Anhui Province in the north, and intersecting with the cities of Jinhua, Lishui and Hangzhou in the east. It is the meeting point of land and water, and the thoroughfare of four provinces. It is located at 118°01'15＂- 119°20′20＂E longitude and 28°15′26＂- 29°30′00＂N latitude, with a total area of 8,844.6 square kilometers, east and west 127.5 kilometers wide, north and south 140.25 kilometers long. It is an ecological city in West Zhejiang and the central city at the border of four provinces, i.e., Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangxi and Anhui.

Climate

Quzhou belongs to the subtropical monsoon climate zone. It has four distinct seasons, with long winter and summer, short spring and autumn, abundant light, heat, and precipitation, favorable temperature, obvious droughts and floods, and long frost-free period. The winter wind is stronger than the summer one, and the most wind direction is northeast-east in downtown and Changshan, northeast in Longyou and Jiangshan, and north in Kaihua.The landforms in the territory are diverse. At the turn of spring and summer, the complex terrain conditions are conducive to the retention of stationary fronts, increasing the chance of precipitation. In midsummer, it is more difficult for typhoons to penetrate into the territory, with less impact and more static and hot weather.

Climate Resources

Light energy resources: The total solar radiation is 101.9 - 113.5 kcal/c㎡ in the whole city. Its regional distribution is uneven. Low hills and plains are higher than high hills and mountains. Low hills and plains are 107.8 - 113.5 kcal/c㎡, which is one of the high areas in Zhejiang Province. There are fewer in the northwest and southeast mountainous areas, such as Kaihua with only 101.9 kcal/c㎡. The time distribution is the least in January and the most in July and August. The annual sunshine hours are 1785.7 - 2118.6 hours. The most year was 1963, with a total annual amount of 2456.2 hours, and the least was 1989, with the amount of 1401.7 hours.

Heat resources: The annual average temperature is 16.3°C (Kaihua) to 17.4°C (city proper of Quzhou). The average temperature in January is 4.5°C - 5.3°C; the average temperature in July is 27.6°C - 29.2°C; the active accumulated temperature >10°C is 5152 - 5508°C, and the duration is 237-248 days. The average first frost date over the years is November 19th, and the last frost date is March 5th. The frost-free period is 251-261 days. The extreme maximum temperature in the territory is 41.8°C (Tianma Town in Changshan County), and the extreme minimum temperature is -11.4°C (Longyou Town in Longyou County). Wucun Village, 440 meters above sea level, once recorded -13.9°C.

Precipitation resources: Precipitation increases month by month from January. In spring, affected by the South China stationary front, the rainfall in various places from March to April ranges from 395mm to 440mm, accounting for 23% - 26% of the whole year. From the beginning of May to the end of June, when the seasons change from late spring to early summer, the rainfall and rainy days increase sharply, with the total rainfall of 500mm - 610mm. Beginning in early July, under the control of the Pacific subtropical high pressure, the whole city enters the midsummer high temperature season. After September, the winter monsoon strengthens, and the precipitation gradually decreases. From October to February of the following year, the precipitation in the whole city is 370mm - 392mm, which is 21% - 23% of the whole year. The total precipitation in July, August and September in the city is 337mm - 407mm, accounting for 20% - 22% of the annual precipitation. Due to the high temperature and large evaporation during this period, drought is prone to occur. So these three months is also the drought period.

The regional differences in precipitation are obvious. The average annual precipitation is 1,500 - 2,300 mm, and it is below 1,700 mm in the valleys and plains along the river. It increases to the hills and mountains on both sides, and the increase rate is 40 - 80 mm/100 m, of which the largest increase rate is from March to June. Precipitation in the north and south mountainous areas is more than that in the central plains, and precipitation in the west is more than that in the east.

Mineral Resources

There are many types of mineral deposits. There are 32 kinds of minerals with proven reserves in the city, and 96 mineral deposits, including 5 large-scale deposits and 15 medium-scale deposits. Stone coal, limestone, pyrite, pyrophyllite, marble, refractory clay, and uranium ore are among the top minerals in Zhejiang Province. Stone coal and limestone mines rank among the top 10 in the country. The main minerals and accumulated proven reserves are: 8.13 million tons of coal, 737 million tons of stone coal (predicted total 6.1 billion tons), 581 million tons of limestone (predicted total 3.13 billion tons), 33.45 million tons of pyrite (with the largest pyrite production mine in the province), 2.7 million tons of pyrophyllite, 3.01 million tons of fluorite, 17.26 million cubic meters of marble, 1.819 million tons of refractory clay, 7.02 million tons of potassium-containing sandstone, 4.94 million tons of phosphate rock, 3.1 million tons of vanadium ore (vanadium pentoxide associated with rock coal seams) and 4,500 tons of uranium ore. In addition, metal minerals have also proved some reserves: 22,200 tons of copper mines (2 places), 29,100 tons of lead mines (5 places), 88,900 tons of zinc mines (5 places), 1,842 tons of tungsten mines (2 places), 1,927 tons of tin ore (2 places), 153 tons of silver mine (associated), and 84 kg of gold (2 places). There are 3 natural drinking mineral water sources.

Main Disastrous Weather

The main meteorological disasters in Quzhou are flood, drought, strong wind, hail, and heavy snow.

Floods are related to heavy rains (daily rainfall greater than 50 mm) and heavy rains (daily rainfall greater than 100 mm) during the plum rain season, which account for 60 - 70% of the annual total. The occurrence frequency of floods is higher in the west than that in the east, and higher in the mountainous areas than that in the plains, consistent with the geographical distribution of heavy rainfall. During the plum rain season, there are 2 - 3 rainstorms per year on the plains along the river, and 3 - 5 times per year on the average in streams, valleys and hilly areas.

Drought occurs in all seasons, with the highest occurrence frequency of summer drought, followed by autumn drought and winter drought, and spring drought is rare. The distribution characteristics of drought are: The severe drought does not occur in mountains, and the drought occurs in the loess hills. The frequency of drought in the plains along the river and the hills on both sides is higher and more severe than that in the mountainous areas.

Gale winds above grade 8 occur in every month of the year, with the most in midsummer, accounting for 40% to 50% of the total number of gale times in the year, followed by spring, accounting for 17% to 27%. Changshan has the most frequent occurrences of strong winds, with an average of about 5 times per year, and as many as 15 times in individual years. The average number of Jiangshan, Longyou, Qujiang and Kecheng is 3-4 times a year. Kaihua ranks the bottom, with an average of 2-3 times a year.

Hail mostly occurs in spring and summer, especially in April to May at the turn of spring and summer, accounting for more than 50%. Hail happens most in Jiangshan, with an average of nearly once a year, followed by Changshan, Longyou, Qujiang, and Kecheng, about once every two years. Kaihua ranks the bottom, concurring only once every 4 to 5 years on average. Hail movement lines: 5 lines enter Kaihua, Changshan, Jiangshan and other counties (cities) from Jiangxi Province, and then move eastward; 1 line enters Qujiang District from Chun’an County and Jiande City, and then turns southeast to the territory of Longyou.

More than 90% of heavy snow is concentrated in January and February. Except for mountainous areas, it occurs about once a year in other areas, up to 8 times a year, and there are also many years without heavy snow.