Cold air to sweep across China

Cold air is forecast to sweep across China and cause a slump in temperature with strong wind.

The National Meteorological Center issued a warning for cold air on Thursday. The center said starting from Thursday, temperatures are forecast to plummet, and wind is expected to blow from northwestern to southeastern parts of China.

The temperatures are forecast to drop by between 8 C and 10 C and in some northern areas by 16 C.

Xue Jianjun, deputy director of the center, said: "The cold air will bring a plunge in temperature nationwide compared with mid-October. The cold wave came from west Siberia which was then enhanced by cold air from the North Pole."

"Heavy snow or rain will take over the Northeast and North China and the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, and farmers there should store corns outdoors ahead of the precipitation," he said.

Jia Xiaolong, deputy director of the National Climate Center, said that it is unlikely that freezing weather will last long or spread widely although temperatures are forecast to be lower than normal years in central and eastern parts.

In October, La Nina, the periodic cooling of ocean surface temperatures in the central and east-central equatorial Pacific, started to affect China, the National Climate Center said.

"In most winters when La Nina events reach their peak, cold air tend to hit China more frequently and heavily," Jia said.

In 2008 winter, affected by the La Nina event, China was hit by low-temperature rain, snow and freezing weather, causing deaths and damaging facilities and crops and affecting 20 provinces, municipalities and regions, the climate center said.

"The cold rain and snow in South China in 2008 were caused by complicated climatic factors. The cold air was frequent and the water vapor transport conditions were good, which made the freezing weather last.

"According to forecast, water vapor in southern areas is not as strong as that in 2008, so chances are small that large-scale and continuous low-temperature rain and snow occur," Jia said.

However, he warned people in eastern part of Southwest China and the western part of Yangtze River's south that there may be periodic cold rain and snow this winter.

People should also be prepared for weather impacts on electricity and traffic, he said.