Fresh snow has blanketed northeast China's Heilongjiang Province and many parts of
neighboring Liaoning and Jilin provinces, which are still recovering
from a major snowstorm last weekend.
Heavy snow hit the Heilongjiang provincial capital of Harbin at
4:00 PM yesterday, forcing the closure of Harbin Taiping
International Airport at 5:15 PM. Twenty-six flights have been
delayed and seven aircraft were rerouted to neighboring airports
until 9:50 PM.
The Harbin-Daqing Highway, with a visibility of less than 10
meters, was closed at 8:30 PM because of heavy snow, according to
local traffic authorities, and the Shenyang-Jilin Highway linking
Liaoning and Jilin was also closed at around 10:00 PM.
Motorists in northeast China were warned yesterday to expect
further disruption with more heavy snow forecast in the next two
days.
The Ministry of Communications has issued traffic warnings,
instructing local authorities to prepare for traffic jams and
breakdowns.
The snow also hit eastern and northern parts of Liaoning and
southeastern Jilin yesterday evening.
The snow and strong northerly winds will bring temperatures down
by eight degrees, but the weather will not be as bad as last
weekend's snowstorm, the worst March snowstorm in 56 years, which
caused widespread damage in the region, according to Han Jiangwen,
chief forecaster at the Shenyang meteorological station.
(Xinhua News Agency March 10, 2007)