Shanghai weather isgenerally mild and moist, with four distinctive seasons - a pleasant warmspring, a hot rainy summer, a comfortable cool autumn,and an overcast coldwinter. The weather of Shanghai in July and August is the hottest, with more than10 days' high temperatures above 35C (95 F).

The coldestperiod is from late January to early February. The location at the estuary ofthe Yangtze River to the East China Sea makes the city so wetthat itrains for about one third of the year.

* Shanghai's urban sprawl greatly affects the climate. The urban area isusually hotter and drier than the suburbs and this effect aggravates therainfall and pollution, calling for people's attention to protect and improvethe environment.