Strong winds and chilly temperatures coming to city

A cold front will sweep across the city today, prompting the local weather bureau to issue a blue gale alert at 1pm — the lowest in the four-color alert system.

The alert indicates winds will be stronger tonight, with gusts of up to 74 kilometers per hour in the local coastal area, strong enough to break tree branches, according to the Shanghai Meteorological Bureau.

Tomorrow's high temperature is expected to fall by 6 degrees Celsius to 11, followed by a gradual increase to 15 on Friday, and return to around 11 over the weekend.

Tomorrow is predicted to be the only sunny day this week, but its low temperature will plummet to 4 degrees, the lowest of the week.

The bureau said last month was the warmest February on record dating back to 1873, with an average temperature of more than 10 degrees — 3.7 higher than average.

The previous record for February was 2007, with an average temperature of 9.8 degrees.