Abstract: Quantitative indices were chosen to analyze the characters of meteorological disasters caused by the extreme synoptic process in early 2008 over China by virtue of the daily temperature, precipitation and weather phenomena dataset at 606 stations in China from 1 January of 1951 to 29 February of 2008. Unusually severe meteorological disasters, including low temperature, heavy snowfall and freezing, happened in the mid-lower reaches of the Yangtze River valley and the areas to the south of the Yangtze River from the middle of January to the first decade of February. In the disaster areas, the maximal persistent low temperature days, snowy days and the freezing days all broke the records since 1951, showing a centennial probability. Especially, board extents, the long persistence and severe damages characterized this synoptic process in early 2008 over China, resulting in heavy losses in many aspects of the social life of China, such as the electric power, the transportation, the agriculture, the forestry, the daily life of the people and so on.

Key words: low temperature, snowfall, freezing, disaster, climatic features