03-08-04

　　Thursday could finally see Shanghai's streak of consecutive days with temperatures topping 35 degrees Celsius come to an end.

　　Local meteorologists are predicting the high will drop to 34 degrees on Thursday ending a streak that reached 23 days yesterday. They warn, however, that they are still keeping a close eye on changes to a sub-tropical high pressure system, which is to blame for the city's terrible heat wave.

　　Today is expected to be this year's 24th hot day in the city. The high will be 37 degrees, 0.1 degrees higher than yesterday, said Cao Xiaogang, chief meteorologist of the Shanghai Meteorological Bureau.

　　Despite a fierce thunderstorm on Saturday, the high still managed to reach 39.6 degrees - equalling a 60-year high set on July 25.

　　The storm damaged four high-pressure electricity wires downtown on Saturday afternoon, cutting off the power supply to thousands of families nearby. Nobody was injured in the accident and workers took nearly seven hours to get the electricity supply back online near the accident site.

　　The average temperature this week is expected to be 30 degrees with two or three days of rain, the meteorological bureau reported.

　　Meteorologists stressed that the suspension of the heat wave depends on whether the sub-tropical high pressure weakens as expected.

　　The brutal heat wave has made life difficult for many local residents. But for producers of anything that can make people feel cool, the cruel sun is providing a boon.

　　Residents appear to be heeding warnings to drink plenty of water and stay indoors with the air conditioning running, which has helped boost sales of ice cream and air conditioners.

　　An official surnamed Sun of Shanghai Bright Food Co Ltd, a leading ice cream maker in the city, said yesterday that demand for its products has already exceeded production capacity.

　　"Our sales volume in July reached almost 40 million yuan (US.82 million), up nearly 10 percent from a year earlier," said Sun.

　　Zhang lei, an official with Shanghai Yiliab Foods Co Ltd, revealed that the sales volume of its ice cream products over the past two months was 125.2 million yuan in eastern China, a rise of around 30 percent from last year.

　　"We have allocated about 5.6 million yuan worth of products from other parts of the country so as to guarantee the supply to the Shanghai market," said Zhang.

　　Similar actions have been adopted by fruit wholesalers.

　　"The watermelons produced in local suburbs and the neighboring Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces have almost been sold out," said Yi Feng, an official with Shanghai Fruit Co Ltd, the largest fruit wholesaler in the city.

　　As a result, the retail price of watermelons has reached 1.6 yuan per kilogram and that of some good varieties has risen to three yuan per kilogram, doubling the price of just two weeks ago.

　　Air conditioners are also selling like hot cakes.

　　Shanghai guomei Electrical Co Ltd, a leading home appliance retailer in Shanghai, said it sold 30,000 units last weekend at its 11 outlets around the city.

　　Meanwhile, taxi drivers, who experienced a hard time during the SARS outbreak, have seen their business soar as local commuters choose cool cabs instead of crowded buses.

　　Taxi incomes were up more than 40 percent during the first 20 days of July from the same period in May when SARS reached its peak, according to officials with the Shanghai Taxi Administration Office.

摘自：Shanghai Daily