Three airports shut, five bus stops collapse after heavy snowfall in China
Sign up now: Get insights on Asia's fast-moving developments
Chinese soldiers shovelling snow to clear the road during a snowfall in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, on Jan 4, 2018.
PHOTO: AFP
SHANGHAI (REUTERS, CHINA DAILY/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - At least three Chinese airports have been shut and nine others are experiencing extensive delays because of heavy snowfall, Chinese aviation data provider VariFlight said on Thursday (Jan 4).
The national observatory put China's snow alert on its second-highest level this week, state news agency Xinhua said. Parts of the central, northern and eastern regions could see up to 30cm of snow, it said.
VariFlight said Hefei Xinqiao International Airport, Fuyang Xiguan Airport in eastern Anhui province, and Jining Qufu Airport in coastal Shandong province had been shut. Some runways at other airports had been closed, causing delays, it said.
Beijing Capital International Airport, one of China's busiest, was also experiencing some delays, it said.
China's National Meteorological Centre has also urged domestic authorities to take precautions regarding roads, railways, electricity supplies and telecommunications, according to Xinhua.
The north-western part of central Hubei province saw its first snowfall of 2018 on Wednesday.
Some highways were shut due to snow in central Henan province and north-western Ningxia Autonomous Region. Snowfall in Xian, the capital of Shaanxi province, also led to the delay of many high-speed trains.
The meteorological centre expects widespread rain or snow in China's central and eastern regions over the next week.
Separately, one person died and dozens were injured after five bus stops collapsed due to heavy snowfall in Hefei in East China's Anhui province, on Thursday morning, China Daily reported.
At one bus stop, a 61-year-old woman died and around 20 others were rushed to hospital after a billboard on the bus stop fell on them.
This winter's heaviest bout of snow and rainfall began sweeping 23 provincial-level regions－half of the country's territory－on Tuesday, according to official forecasts.
Forecasts suggest blizzards will cover more than 4 million sq km, bringing heavy snow and rain to parts of Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, Hubei, Jiangsu and Anhui provinces.
Total precipitation will approach or exceed record highs for January, the National Meteorological Centre has predicted.
Beijing, however, should remain dry. The capital has now gone 72 days without precipitation, apart from the light dusting of snow in Yanqing district, according to official records.
"This bout of heavy snow and rainfall is mainly a result of the strong and constant supply of warm, moist air from Bengal Bay meeting with the cold front from our north-western region," said chief forecaster Zhang Tao for the National Meteorological Centre.
"The major characteristic is that these strong blizzards will cover a wide area," he said, adding that compared with the rain in the east, the snow in the vast north-western and central region will have a major effect.
Besides the heavy rain, falling temperatures and low visibility, however, the precipitation will help ease droughts in some parts of the country, which is good news for crop farmers.
The weather will also clean the air and lower the risk of forest fires, Mr Zhang said.