Pedestrians walk across a road in snow in Beijing, China, Jan. 3, 2010. Heavy snow hit Beijing on Sunday, closing expressways, delaying flights and disrupting bus services. (Xinhua/Chen Shugen)
BEIJING, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- China's Central Meteorological Station (CMS) on Sunday evening issued the third orange alert since the first one on Saturday, extending the warning against a strong cold wave and strong wind.
Temperature was expected to fall by 14 to 18 degrees Celsius from Sunday night to Tuesday in central Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Shaanxi Province and the western parts in regions along the Yellow and Huaile rivers, or 16 to 18 degrees Celsius in some of these regions, according to the CMS.
Soldiers of the Armed Police Force clean the snow on the street in Beijing, China, Jan. 3, 2010. (Xinhua/Tang Shizeng)
The country's north and central areas, including eastern parts of the northwest China, north China, Guizhou Province, Chongqing, and some regions in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, would suffer a temperature plunge by 8 to 12 degrees Celsius, said the CMS.
From Tuesday to Wednesday morning, temperature in the northern parts of north China was forecasted to slump to minus 20 to 32 degrees Celsius, and the central and south regions in north China and areas long the Yellow and Huaihe rivers would drop to minus 10 to 18 degrees Celsius.
Tourists pay a visit to the Ancient Cultural Street in snow, in Tianjin, north China, Jan. 3, 2010. A heavy snowfall hit Tianjin on Saturday night. The local observatory has issued orange warning signal of heavy snow. (Xinhua Photo)
The CMS issued the first orange alert against cold wave on Saturday, and the second one on Sunday morning.
During the three-day New Year's Day holiday, a total of 15 highways and some sections of three national highways in eight provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions, including Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shanxi and Inner Mongolia were closed due to the heavy snow brought by the cold snap, according to the Ministry of Transport.
Pedestrians walk in the street during a snowfall in Shijiazhuang, capital city of north China's Hebei Province, Jan. 3, 2010.(Xinhua/Gong Zhihong)
China sends agricultural experts to guide anti-disaster work
BEIJING, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- The Ministry of Agriculture dispatched Sunday seven working teams to oversee and guide agricultural work in major wheat and vegetable production bases in north China as a strong cold wave had swept across the region from Saturday.
Snowstorms and a temperature plunge caused by a strong clod snap had hit a vast range of areas in the country, bringing adverse effects on the agricultural production. Full story
HK airport flights struck by Beijing snow
HONG KONG, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- Over 30 flights were canceled or delayed at Hong Kong International Airport on Sunday, due to heavy snow in the country's capital city of Beijing.
By 21:00 (1300 GMT) local time, seven departure flights to Beijing were canceled and 10 delayed. As for arrivals, eight were canceled and nine delayed, said the spokesman of the department of News Relations from the Hong Kong's Airport Authority. Flights to other cities including Dalian and Tianjing were also affected by the bad weather. Full story
Heavy snow hits north China, disrupting traffic, classes
People queue for entering the subway station in front of the Beijing Railway Station in Beijing, China, Jan. 3, 2010.(Xinhua/Xing Guangli)
BEIJING, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- Beijing traffic authority has decided to go all out to deal with possible traffic jams or accidents during peak hours Monday morning after a snow storm Sunday caused traffic breakdown in the national capital.
"Low temperature and ice-covered roads are expected to severely affect local traffic on Monday morning," said Song Jianguo, head of the Beijing Traffic Management Bureau. Full story
China extends alert against cold wave, heavy snow
People ride electric bicycles in the street during a snowfall in Hohhot, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Jan. 3, 2010. China's Central Meteorological Station (CMS) on Sunday morning extended the warning against strong cold wave, snowstorm and heavy fog by issuing another orange alert.(Xinhua/Li Yunping)
BEIJING, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- China's Central Meteorological Station (CMS) on Sunday morning extended the warning against strong cold wave, snowstorm and heavy fog by issuing another orange alert.
Affected by the strong cold snap, temperature was to fall by 8 to 12 degrees Celsius in central and western Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, eastern parts of northwest China, north China, Guizhou and Chongqing from Sunday to Monday, according to the CMS. Full story
Alert goes orange for cold wave as northern Chinese cities embrace new year's first snow
Photo taken on Jan. 2, 2009, shows a snow-covered car with the characters "the snow falls" in Beijing, China. Beijingers woke up to see the first snowfall of the New Year Saturday, after nearly two months of drought. (Xinhua/Lu Peng)
BEIJING, Jan. 2 (Xinhua) -- A strong cold wave will sweep most of China and force down temperature in the coming two days beginning on Saturday as northern Chinese cities such as Beijing, Tianjin and others in Hebei Province embraced new year's first snowfall.
The Central Meteorological Station (CMS) issued an orange alert for the cold wave, warning that most areas in north, central and east China would suffer temperature drops ranging from 8 to 12 degrees Celsius. Full story