Heavy snow began to fall in most of central, eastern and
northern China on Tuesday, the day of the winter solstice.
The National Meteorological Center (NMC) said on Tuesday that
central, eastern and northern China, influenced by both cold and
warm air currents, will see plenty of white stuff during the next
few days.
From Tuesday to Thursday, light snow, moderate snow or sleet
will fall on southwest China's Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, north and
northwest China, the Hanjiang River Valley in central China, the
Yellow and Huaihe river valleys and the Yangtze and Huaihe river
valleys.
Heavy snowfall is expected in the Tibet Autonomous Region,
northwest China's Shaanxi Province, north China's Shanxi and Hebei
provinces, east China's Shandong, Anhui and Jiangsu provinces and
central China's Henan and Hubei provinces.
From Tuesday to Saturday, rain will fall on most of south China
and the easternmost portion of the southwest, ranging from drizzle
to moderate rain and possibly sleet. Some sections of the middle
and lower reaches of the Yangtze River will have heavy rain.
While the precipitation may bring some traffic troubles to north
China and the Yellow and Huaihe river valleys, it will help
alleviate the drought in these regions, according to the NMC's Yang
Keming.
However, he indicated that south China is not likely to receive
enough rainfall to relieve the drought that has plagued it
throughout the autumn.
(Xinhua News Agency December 22, 2004)
