At least three cold fronts are expected to move into northern China throughout January, the strongest one first.

"The ongoing chilly winter will go on just like we've experienced over the past three weeks," said Wang Bangzhong, deputy director of the China Meteorological Administration's Department of Forecasting Services and Disaster Mitigation at a press conference.

However, temperatures across the country should remain higher than in a typical year for the rest of the winter with the mercury at least 1 degree centigrade above average in many areas, Wang said.

"China is still experiencing its third warmest winter since 1961," he said.

Meanwhile, drought conditions in some parts may not be relieved since less precipitation is predicted for most of the country.

In northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, seasonal snowfall should drop by at least 20 percent compared with the same period last year, Wang said.

In the south, precipitation of up to 50 millimetres is expected to alleviate the catastrophic drought that has plagued Guangdong and Hainan provinces and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region since autumn.

Reviewing last year's weather, Wang confirmed, "China experienced a relatively good year with far fewer weather-related disasters compared to previous years."

Over the past year, there were 10 major extreme weather phenomena and calamities, including typhoons, droughts, lightning strikes, dust storms, rainstorms, hail storms, severe frosts, heat waves and warm winters.

Eight typhoons caused 109 deaths in China and damaged more than 700,000 hectares of crops.

The drought in the south was "the worst since 1951" while a prolonged dry spell ravaged the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region," says a report released by the China Meteorological Administration.

(China Daily January?5, 2005)