China maintains blue alert for cold wave

A combination picture shows people in winter clothes in Jinan, East China's Shandong province, Dec 20, 2012. [Photo/Xinhua]

BEIJING - China's National Meteorological Center(NMC) on Saturday kept its blue alert for the severe cold wave that is sweaping many northern China regions.

The observatory said temperature drop will continue to decline from the weekend to Monday after many parts of China had started to experience the lowest temperatures this winter.

Most parts of China, except the central and southwestern regions, will see temperature fall by 6 to 8 degrees Celsius in the next three days, with some parts of north and northeast China to witness a drop of 10 to 14 degrees Celsius, according to the NMC.

On Saturday morning, temperatures in parts of Xinjiang, Qinghai, Tibet, Gansu, Shanxi, Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Fujian and Guangxi dropped by 6 to 10 degrees Celsius from a day ago, and by 12 to 16 degrees Celsius in parts of Liaoning and Jilin.

China's meteorological disaster alerts are categorized as blue, yellow, orange and red as the severity of disasters ascends.

The NMC also forecasted small to moderate snow for parts of Xinjiang, Gansu, Inner Mongolia and Hebei while heavy snow for Shandong Province on Saturday. Parts of south China and Guizhou Province will see sleet, while freezing rain will fall on west and central Guizhou.