Cold sweeps N China, bringing rain, snow

BEIJING - The cold current sweeping provinces and cities in North China on Saturday dropped temperatures and brought rainfall and snowfall, according to meteorological authorities.

In the capital city of Beijing, some districts have witnessed rainfall from Saturday morning with almost the same temperature as Friday.

The meteorological department said the temperature in Beijing will start to fall on Sunday morning.

Snowfall, sleet and winds of up to 38 km per hour are expected to sweep through the city on Sunday. But the snow and rainfall will end on Monday, and the highest temperature will be up to 10 degrees Celsius.

Hebei Meteorological Observatory said on Saturday that temperatures in the province will fall in the following two days. The lowest temperature in the northern areas in Bashang Prairie will drop to minus 13 Celsius.

The observatory has issued snow, rain and cold current alert to warn relevant departments in Hebei to make full preparations to mitigate the cold weather's impact.

In North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region, rainfall and snow have caused several rear-end collisions on expressways in the region.

According to the staff of Hohhot Baita Airport, flights have not been affected so far.

Local governments in Shanxi province have given notice to relevant departments to firmly fix billboards, canopies and fences in place. Citizens were persuaded not to ride bicycles and participate in outdoor, high-altitude activities.

The environmental sanitation department of Taiyuan, capital city of Shanxi province, has stored 2,100 tons of snow-melting agent to cope with large amounts of snow.