A cold front will blow through the northern parts of Xinjiang
Uygur Autonomous Region in northwest China tomorrow, and then move
east through the Chinese mainland, according to the Central
Meteorological Observatory.
This will cause dropping temperatures, rain and snow for the
weekend, the observatory announced on Wednesday.
The cold spell will hit some of China's northern regions with
snow and low temperatures between tomorrow and January 30.
Frequent rain is forecast for southern China and the east, the
observatory said.
Snow yesterday was chaos for northern Xinjiang that is still
dealing with the last bout of heavy snowfall.
Xinjiang has been hard hit by snow since December 29, with low
temperatures forcing the evacuation of millions of people, and
leaving herdsman and their livestock stranded.
A blanket of fog continues to cover parts of north China, areas
between the Yellow River and the Huaihe River, areas between the
Yangtze River and the Huaihe River, the Hanshui River and regions
south of the Yangtze yesterday, the observatory said.
Most of the other mainland regions have been fairly unscathed,
experiencing only cloudy weather and light winds.
Yesterday's mild weather nationwide was still warm compared to
the same period in 2004, which is unusual, according to the
observatory yesterday. Meteorological data showed that the days
were colder in December last year but warmed up this month. The
changes in temperature were unusual because of a series of warm
winters since 1988.
Nationwide, the weather forecast drew slightly different
pictures yesterday:
In northwest China, northern Xinjiang received slight to
moderate snow with a northern wind force of 5 to 7. The southern
part of Shaanxi Province saw cloudy skies turn to fine rain or
sleet.
In north China, a moderately strong southerly wind swept the
central and eastern regions of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous
Region.
In southwest China, cloudy skies with light rain and sleet hit
the eastern part of Sichuan Basin, the central and northern regions
of Guizhou.
In central China, the western and northern parts of Hunan
Province and western parts of Hubei Province also saw cloudy skies
with light rain and sleet.
The eastern and southern coastal regions experienced a northerly
wind of force 6 to 7.
(China Daily January 27, 2006)
