A severe cold wave has enveloped large parts of China, severely disrupting daily life and prompting emergency responses.
The winter cold front has delivered well below normal temperatures for December to China, promoting its meteorological authority to issue an orange alert, the most severe warning in its three-tier warning system, waring of steep temperature drops in most parts of the country, reports China Daily News.
According to the National Meteorological Center (NMC), temperatures will drop by 8 to 12 degrees Celsius in most parts of China from 8 pm Thursday to 8 am Sunday.
Parts of Shaanxi, Jilin, Liaoning, and Guizhou could see temperatures plunge by more than 20 degrees Celsius.
In northern China, the cold weather system began with blizzards that extending into central and southern China. The storms caused major transportation disruptions, with parts of highways in Beijing’s jurisdiction, including those leading to Daxing Airport and connecting to Shanghai and Guangdong province, temporarily closed due to snow, according to Reuters.
Beijing, has experienced continuous snowfall for five days, with a steep temperature drop off. National weather forecasters predicted temperatures in major northeastern cities like Shenyang and Harbin to reach -27℃ (-16.6℉), potentially setting new record lows for this time of the year.
The extreme cold is having widespread impacts including, school cancellations, and public office, highway, and airport closures. The snow and ice caused authorities to close 126 highways across multiple provinces. Widespread power outages resulted in the deployment of emergency mobile power generators.