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City gears up for the big chill and first snow
Print Edition
THE city’s first snowfall of the season is expected tonight. And the temperature will plummet to around minus 10 degrees Celsius in the suburbs on Sunday due to a strong cold front from the north, weather forecasters said yesterday.
There is a forecast for blizzards sweeping central parts of East China between Wednesday and Friday, and it is very likely that Shanghai will be affected.
The Shanghai Meteorological Bureau said most of it will be sleet, but there will be snowfalls in the city’s west and north suburban areas between midnight today and early tomorrow.
The most affected areas will be Jiading, Baoshan, Qingpu and Songjiang districts.
The temperature will range between zero and 5 degrees today.
The snowy weather will last until Saturday when the skies turn cloudy and the temperature drops further. The low will touch -3 and the high will be 3 degrees.
On Sunday, however, the temperature readings will be between -6 and -3 degrees. The chilliest period will occur on Sunday and Monday morning with the downtown temperature falling sharply to -7 degrees. The outskirts of Shanghai will be even lower, ranging between -8 to -10 degrees.
Fu Yi, a chief service officer at the bureau, told Shanghai Daily that it is very rare for Shanghai to register a low temperature of -10 degrees.
“There were only two records of temperatures lower than -10 degrees in the city’s history. The record low was -10.6 degrees on January 24, 1916, followed by -10.1 degrees in 1977,”
He added that it was not the first time the city would see snow in January.
“In 2008, much of the country was hit by a large-scale blizzard in January and Shanghai was affected by it too. Another snowfall in January was recorded in the city in 2011.”
The city, meanwhile, is making every possible effort to ensure safety.
Workers at the Hongqiao Railway Station examined snow melting devices on high-speed rails today, while the Shanghai Railway Station and Shanghai South Railway Station will step up snow and ice cleaning work on rails and platforms, escalators, entrances and exits to remove any accumulated snow.
Police, urban management and civil affairs authorities in the city have started 24-hour patrol to provide help to the homeless.
Residents are being urged to call 110 or 962200 (civil affairs hotline) if they see any homeless people.
The Shanghai Agriculture Commission has ordered districts and county authorities to protect vegetables from frost. They are also being advised to be on alert to prevent and control animal diseases to avoid epidemics which usually happens because of a sudden drop in temperatures.
Shanghai Metro operator are putting up non-slip mats at the entrances and exits.
Traffic police has warned car owners and drivers that bridges over the Huangpu River, especially Yangpu, Lupu and Xupu, are accident prone during snowfall. Shanghai Road Administration Bureau said it was taking measures to ensure that snow does not accumulate.
“We have prepared enough straw bags, yellow sand and snow melting agents, and our towing tractors and snow plows will stand by to react to any emergency,” the bureau said yesterday. “Traffic boards will keep drivers updated about the situation on the road, and we will make sure that snow is dealt with immediately.”
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