The National Meteorological Center (NMC) forecast Sunday that medium and heavy snow will hit east, west and central China in the next three days.

Anhui and Jiangsu in east China, Hubei and Henan in central China and Shanxi and Shaanxi in mid-west China will experience snow or sleet, while blizzards could hit the northwest part of Hubei, said the NMC.

The north, northwest and northeast will see winds ranging from 20 to 50 kilometers per hour in the next three days while temperatures in east and central China will drop by up to eight degrees.

The NMC warned power supply, traffic and construction departments to make adequate preparations.

China experienced severe prolonged snow and low temperatures that resulted in havoc in many areas during the past month.

Snow hit 21 provincial-level areas in south and central China, the worst in 50 years, left 129 people dead and forced 1.5 million people to relocate.

It also caused losses of 150 billion yuan (about 20 billion U.S. dollars), according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

(Xinhua News Agency February 24, 2008)