Northwest China: Affected by streams of cold air, March 20 to 22, most of the region will be cloudy with occasional overcast, while northern Xinjiang and some of eastern sections of the region will have light snow or sleet with force 4 to 6 northerly winds and lower temperatures. Some of eastern sections of the region will meet sandy winds. March 23 to 25, most of the region will be sunny to cloudy with warmer weather. March 26, western and northern Xinjiang will receive light snow.

North China: March 20, most of the region will be dominated by cloudy skies. Affected by streams of cold air, March 21 to 23, most of the region will be cloudy with occasional overcast. Light snow or sleet is expected in some of northernmost sections. Most of the region will experience force 4 to 6 northerly winds and colder weather with sandy winds expected in some central and eastern sections of Inner Mongolia. March 24 to 25, most of the region will be sunny to cloudy with higher temperatures. March 26, some northernmost sections will be overcast with light snowfall or sleet.

Northeast China: March 20, most of the region will be sunny to cloudy. Affected by streams of cold air, March 21 to 23, most parts will be cloudy turning to be overcast with light snow or sleet expected in central and northernmost parts, accompanied by moderate to heavy snowfall possible in some places. Force 4 to 6 southerly or northerly winds will blow in the region, lowering the temperatures. March 24 to 26, central and southern parts will be cloudy to sunny with higher temperatures, while some of northeasternmost and northernmost parts will continue to see light snow.

Central China: March 20 to 23, northern parts will be cloudy with occasional overcast, accompanied by force 3 to 4 northerly winds. The central and southern parts will have light to moderate rain with heavy rainfall expected in some of southern parts. The temperatures will also drop. March 25 to 26, some of central and southern parts will be overcast with light rain.

East China: March 20 to 24, northern parts will be cloudy or overcast with light to moderate rain expected in areas south of the Huaihe River, accompanied by heavy rainfall in some of southern parts of the region. The temperatures will also decline. March 25 to 26, some of southern parts will continue to see overcast skies with light rainfall while the remainder parts of the region will be under sunny to cloudy skies.

South China: March 20 to 24, most of the region will be overcast with light rain. Moderate rain is expected in some of the central and northern parts, while heavy rain may hit some of these areas. March 25 to 26, most of the region will be cloudy and some areas will be overcast with light rainfall.

Southwest China: During the week, eastern sections will see more overcast and rainy days. March 20 to 21, some of eastern Tibet will be overcast with light rainfall. March 20 to 24, eastern sections will meet light to moderate rain with heavy rain expected in some areas. March 25 to 26, some of eastern sections will continue to have light rainfall.

Source: National Meteorological Center

(China.org.cn March 17, 2006)