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)