People in most snow-stricken areas in the south and east parts
of China will continue to enjoy sunshine and warmer temperatures
for the next three days, but meteorologists warned that the
snowmelt could lead to a new round of problems.
From Friday to Sunday, most areas along the middle and lower
reaches of the Yangtze River will be sunny to cloudy, while
snowfalls are expected in most parts of the northwest, the China
Meteorological Administration (CMA) forecast on Thursday.
The CMA warned that the snowmelt could trigger geo-disasters
like landslides in mountain areas, while causing heavy fog in many
parts of east China that will affect traffic.
Heavy snows or even blizzards were likely in southeast Tibet,
south Gansu, northern parts of western Sichuan and northwest
Yunnan.
Freak winter storms have plagued southern China since
mid-January, leading to widespread traffic jams, structural
collapses, blackouts and crop losses in 19 provinces.
Rail, highway and air transport systems paralyzed by the
freezing weather only began to recover on Tuesday. The weather
disruptions forced millions to abandon plans for family reunions
for the Lunar New Year.
The storms killed more than 80 people, destroyed or damaged
800,000 houses and resulted in losses of 80 billion yuan (about 11
billion U.S. dollars), according to the Red Cross Society of
China.
(Xinhua News Agency February 8, 2008)