Fresh snow has blanketed northeast China's Heilongjiang Province and many parts of neighboring Liaoning and Jilin provinces, which are still recovering from a major snowstorm last weekend.

 

Heavy snow hit the Heilongjiang provincial capital of Harbin at 4:00 PM yesterday, forcing the closure of Harbin Taiping International Airport at 5:15 PM. Twenty-six flights have been delayed and seven aircraft were rerouted to neighboring airports until 9:50 PM.

 

The Harbin-Daqing Highway, with a visibility of less than 10 meters, was closed at 8:30 PM because of heavy snow, according to local traffic authorities, and the Shenyang-Jilin Highway linking Liaoning and Jilin was also closed at around 10:00 PM.

 

Motorists in northeast China were warned yesterday to expect further disruption with more heavy snow forecast in the next two days.

 

The Ministry of Communications has issued traffic warnings, instructing local authorities to prepare for traffic jams and breakdowns.

 

The snow also hit eastern and northern parts of Liaoning and southeastern Jilin yesterday evening.

 

The snow and strong northerly winds will bring temperatures down by eight degrees, but the weather will not be as bad as last weekend's snowstorm, the worst March snowstorm in 56 years, which caused widespread damage in the region, according to Han Jiangwen, chief forecaster at the Shenyang meteorological station.

 

(Xinhua News Agency March 10, 2007)