Beijing all white as fog gives way to heaviest winter snow
By Ni Yinbin |
March 19, 2012, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
Traffic by road and by air was returning to normal yesterday across China after serious problems caused by heavy snow and dense fog.
Beijing was covered in a blanket of white yesterday morning, after a day of heavy fog that grounded hundreds of flights. The snow was up to eight centimeters deep in some parts of the Chinese capital.
It was the biggest fall in Beijing this winter, the National Meteorological Center said.
Strong winds last night were expected to clear the fog, forecasters said. More than 80 flights had been canceled or delayed because of poor visibility, and the snow added to the problems.
On Saturday, airports in Tianjin, Shijiazhuang, Zhengzhou in north China were enveloped in dense fog, with visibility at Tianjin's airport less than 50 meters.
More than 1,000 passengers on six international flights due to land in Beijing were diverted to Shanghai's Pudong International Airport between 2am and 9am on Saturday.
In central China's Wuhan City, heavy fog stranded more than 2,000 passengers at the Tianhe airport yesterday morning. But the fog had lifted by 10am and services gradually returned to normal.
On the roads, the bad weather affected traffic in several provinces with hundreds of highway toll stations closed.
The low visibility triggered a spate of highway accidents.
Three were on a highway in the city of Xiangyang in central China, including a multi-vehicle pileup and a four-car collision that left two people seriously injured and another three with slight injuries.
In Shanghai, the environmental authority reported light pollution on Saturday due to the fog but air quality had improved by yesterday.
According to city forecasters, today and tomorrow will be colder with temperatures dropping to 5 degrees Celsius for the low due to a cold front.
Wednesday will see temperatures rising above 10 degrees in the afternoon, the Shanghai Meteorological Bureau said.
"The city is in the middle of season changing and is likely to see some ups and downs in temperatures," said Fu Yi, a chief service officer at the bureau.
Drizzle is expected today, and the rain will return on Thursday, Fu said, due to strong warm and wet air currents from the south.
Today's low temperatures delays the official arrival of spring. The new season is announced by the bureau once the city's average temperature reaches 10 degrees for five consecutive days after li chun, or the beginning of spring in the traditional Chinese calendar, which is usually around February 4. The first day of the sequence is considered the first day of spring.
Before today, the average temperature had been above 10 degrees for four days.
Shanghai's spring usually starts around March 25.
Beijing was covered in a blanket of white yesterday morning, after a day of heavy fog that grounded hundreds of flights. The snow was up to eight centimeters deep in some parts of the Chinese capital.
It was the biggest fall in Beijing this winter, the National Meteorological Center said.
Strong winds last night were expected to clear the fog, forecasters said. More than 80 flights had been canceled or delayed because of poor visibility, and the snow added to the problems.
On Saturday, airports in Tianjin, Shijiazhuang, Zhengzhou in north China were enveloped in dense fog, with visibility at Tianjin's airport less than 50 meters.
More than 1,000 passengers on six international flights due to land in Beijing were diverted to Shanghai's Pudong International Airport between 2am and 9am on Saturday.
In central China's Wuhan City, heavy fog stranded more than 2,000 passengers at the Tianhe airport yesterday morning. But the fog had lifted by 10am and services gradually returned to normal.
On the roads, the bad weather affected traffic in several provinces with hundreds of highway toll stations closed.
The low visibility triggered a spate of highway accidents.
Three were on a highway in the city of Xiangyang in central China, including a multi-vehicle pileup and a four-car collision that left two people seriously injured and another three with slight injuries.
In Shanghai, the environmental authority reported light pollution on Saturday due to the fog but air quality had improved by yesterday.
According to city forecasters, today and tomorrow will be colder with temperatures dropping to 5 degrees Celsius for the low due to a cold front.
Wednesday will see temperatures rising above 10 degrees in the afternoon, the Shanghai Meteorological Bureau said.
"The city is in the middle of season changing and is likely to see some ups and downs in temperatures," said Fu Yi, a chief service officer at the bureau.
Drizzle is expected today, and the rain will return on Thursday, Fu said, due to strong warm and wet air currents from the south.
Today's low temperatures delays the official arrival of spring. The new season is announced by the bureau once the city's average temperature reaches 10 degrees for five consecutive days after li chun, or the beginning of spring in the traditional Chinese calendar, which is usually around February 4. The first day of the sequence is considered the first day of spring.
Before today, the average temperature had been above 10 degrees for four days.
Shanghai's spring usually starts around March 25.
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