Coching Chu: Is Cold Winter the Harbinger of Summer F1ood in China?

The winter of 1935-1936 was the coldest on record for many places in north and central China. Temperature for winter thrae months was 1° to 2℃ below normal in the Yangtze Valley,and 30 to 40 below normal in the Yellow River Valley. Farmers as well as some of the conservancy engineers believe that a cold winter presages destructive floods next spring or summer. Even though this idea is wide spread and deep-rooted in China it is not well founded as shown by the following correlation coefficients.