Southern China is going to experience continuously freezing temperatures, according to the national weather authority. The institution announced on Tuesday, Jan. 18, that heavy blizzards, sleet and rainfall will bombard the region until Saturday, Jan. 23, according to a report by China Daily.
The municipality of Shanghai as well as six provinces, including Hunan and Zhejiang, are expected to experience heavy snows as deep as 20 centimeters.
The National Meteorological Center also announced that some parts of Zhejiang Province will experience blizzard conditions. However, experts say that the weather will not be as severe as the blizzards the province experienced back in 2008. The blizzard is also expected to last for only three days, according to chief forecaster Zhang Tao.
Fourteen provinces in central and southern China were ravaged by sustained blizzard conditions in Jan. 2008. This created pandemonium as transportation systems and electrical transmission in the region were severely affected by the blizzards.
The National Meteorological Center also stated that temperatures in southern coastal provinces are expected to drop to about 14 degrees as a strong cold front from the northeast will affect the region. The center estimates that this will be the coldest recorded temperature for January in the past three decades.
This strong cold front already affected the northern part of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region recently, with temperatures dropping to about -40 C.
According to the center, the cold front will continue to disperse cold wind in the southern region until Monday, Jan. 25. Guangdong Province and other areas located along the Yangtze River's middle and lower reaches will be affected, with temperatures dropping to -10 C.
Residents from both northern and southern China can expect higher temperatures in the following weeks, however. According to the center, temperatures will rise next Monday in north China, while the same can be said in southern China starting Jan. 29.