By Liz Lee
BEIJING (Reuters) – After almost two weeks of below-freezing weather brought by a cold wave that swept through most of China, a round of warm air will begin to flow from the country’s north to south lifting temperatures from the weekend.
Northern and northeastern parts of the country have experienced blizzards and record-breaking cold since last week, with some areas in the northeast hitting minus 40 degrees Celsius (-40 degrees Fahrenheit) and below as bitingly cold air flowed from the Arctic.
While China still forecasts new temperature lows this week, weather patterns will improve with the mercury rising to reach over 10 degrees Celsius (50 degrees Fahrenheit) in many places in the central and eastern regions on Monday, state television CCTV said.
The warmer conditions are expected to last until the end of December, resulting in warmer-than-usual temperature in most parts of the country for this time of the year.
In northern Tianjin, its meteorological department said temperatures will slowly rise from Saturday, with Sunday’s high above 0 degree Celsius (32 degrees Fahrenheit) and a minimum not lower than minus 10C. Forecasts show Tianjin to hit a maximum of minus 2 degrees Celsius for Friday.
However, the warmer weather may fluctuate due to interspersing cold air, CCTV said, advising the public need heed forecasts and dress accordingly.
Eastern province Shandong’s observatory warned on Friday of temperatures as low as minus 20 degrees Celsius (-4 degrees Fahrenheit)in some mountainous areas in the province’s northwest.
This week, China’s north including capital Beijing, its surrounding Hebei and Tianjin, Henan, Inner Mongolia, and northeastern provinces Liaoning and Heilongjiang have logged historically their coldest temperatures for the middle of December.
Temperatures in some of these areas and also in parts of the south will be 5 degrees Celsius (41 degrees Fahrenheit) cooler than the usual from Friday to Monday, China’s National Meteorological Center said.
In Beijing, city authorities rushed to fix a leak in a thermal pipe network that supplies heating to buildings in central Dongcheng district.
Repair work for the section leaking, discovered before dawn, stopped some traffic but did not affect residential users, Beijing Daily said.
(Reporting by Liz Lee and Shanghai newsroom; Editing by Michael Perry)
