Cold air and snowstorms have been sweeping across China for days ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, prompting China to issue a yellow alert, the third most severe level in China's four-tier weather warning system, China Daily reported.
The current cold front has caused temperatures to drop by 8 to 14 degrees Celsius across parts of China, with low temperatures moving south to Yunnan province on New Year's Eve.
Meanwhile, heavy snowfall is forecast in some northwestern China and parts of Hubei Province from January 31 to February 1, with some areas in Shaanxi Province and Henan Province seeing snowstorms with up to 2.2 centimeters (0.9 inches) of snow. Accumulations in some areas are expected to reach 3-8 centimeters (1-3 inches), posing risks to transportation and infrastructure, the National Meteorological Center said.
Zhang Xiaoling, an official at the National Meteorological Center, noted that during the Lunar New Year holiday that runs until February 4, parts of northwestern and northern China are expected to see below-average temperatures, with some parts of northern China seeing temperatures drop below -16 degrees Celsius on New Year's Eve.
Snowfall is expected to be recorded in northeastern China on January 29 (the first day of the Lunar New Year).
Zhang Xiaoling warned that rain and snow will affect some areas in northwest and south China from January 31 to February 2 (the third to fifth days of the Lunar New Year), causing light to moderate rain or snow.
Sunny or partly cloudy weather is expected to prevail in most of central and southern China on the first day of the Lunar New Year. However, forecasters warn that another strong cold front will sweep across eastern and southern China from February 1 to 3 (the fourth to sixth days of the Lunar New Year).
China's National Meteorological Center forecasts that February temperatures in China will be colder than normal in some areas of the northwest, southwest and Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region while northeastern and northern China will be warmer than normal.
Rainfall in eastern China is forecast to be below normal in February, especially in Zhejiang and Fujian provinces, where rainfall is expected to be 50 to 80 percent below average.
Jia Xiaolong, deputy director of the China National Climate Center, said that from mid-December 2024 to January 23, 2025, the cumulative rainfall in eastern, central and southern China was 80% lower than the average for the same period.
"Abnormally low rainfall has led to drought conditions in southern regions," he said, noting that moderate to severe drought conditions were affecting most areas in southern China.
