The eastern and central regions of China will suffer strong winds and the northern part of northeast China will have heavy snow on Monday night, according to the latest forecast by the National Meteorological Observatory.

 

A strong north wind will sweep through northeastern China, most northern parts of the country and areas between the Yellow and Huaihe rivers. The temperature will fall eight to 14 degrees Celsius in some of these regions.

 

The northeastern part of Jilin Province will experience heavy snow on Monday night, while the eastern part of Heilongjiang Province will suffer snowstorms, according to the observatory.

 

Over the next three days, most of southern China and parts of southwestern China will see overcast and cloudy weather amid slight and moderate rainfall. On Wednesday night, a current of cold air from Siberia may bring snow to the northern part of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the observatory added.

 

Starting Saturday night, heavy snow has blanketed northeastern, northern and northwestern regions of China. A strong storm tide, believed to be the worst since 1969, hit coastal areas on Sunday.

 

The frequent occurrence of extreme weather is a result of global warming, said Xu Liangyan, a senior engineer with the State Climate Center under the Observatory.

 

In the 2006-2007 winter, China's average temperature stood at minus 2.4 Celsius, 1.9 degrees higher than regular winters.

 

(Xinhua News Agency March 6, 2007)