Excuse me.. What?! (Or: Snow in Beijing)

We hadn't had sub-zero temperatures OR any notable rain for at least two weeks. Then this happens.

Turns out the Beijing Weather Modification Office (北京人工影响天气办公室) is behind this. Using a cold front, they decided to hammer the point of Winter having arrived home by inducing snowfall, using 84 silver-iodine [thingamajigs] to concentrate water in the atmosphere or something to that effect.

“我们从昨天晚上8点开始陆续作业，截止到今天早上7点，共使用了84根碘化银烟剂，预计人影作业将持续到中午。”张蔷说，至于增雪效果，要到整个作业结束才能计算。

Xinhua (Chinese)Xinhua (Google translated)