Lasting snow causes interruption of power, traffic in north China

Persistent heavy snowfall has led to power and traffic disruptions in some areas of northern China, where emergency responses have been taken to ensure the resumption of normalcy in people's lives.

Snowfall-induced icing has caused damage to power transmission lines in Yuanqu County in north China's Shanxi Province, resulting in power outages. All the fault points have been identified and technicians are currently working in full swing to fix the damaged power lines, and emergency power generators have temporarily restored electricity in 11,000 households.

Additional maintenance crew and emergency power generators are being dispatched from other provinces and municipalities to help with the relief work, according to the State Grid's Shanxi branch.

The meteorological observatory in Hebei Province issued a yellow alert for blizzards at 11am Thursday, forecasting up to 15 mm of snowfall in Cangzhou, Hengshui and other areas of the province.

"The snow is so dense that if snow on windscreens and rearview mirrors is not cleaned up in time, it will cause a driving blind spot and endanger traffic safety," said Ma Bin, a traffic police officer. He was seen using an air blower to clear snow for vehicles awaiting traffic lights at an intersection in the city of Hengshui.

Beijing continues to be blanketed by falling snow on Thursday, with train operations affected and schools still suspended.

In response to the weather, Beijing's railway stations canceled at least 153 trains as of 10am Thursday, calculations from these stations show.

Primary schools, secondary schools, and kindergartens in Beijing started suspending classes on Wednesday, and the resumption of in-person classes will be announced later, according to the Beijing Municipal Education Commission.

The Beijing Meteorological Observatory said the average precipitation in the city from 5am to midnight Wednesday was 2.7 mm, with an average of 3.1 mm in the urban area.

Following this round of snow, which is expected to end on Friday, the city will be hit by a cold wave, with minimum temperatures expected to drop below minus 10 degrees at night.

The city is still on an orange alert for heavy snow, a yellow alert for icy roads, and a blue alert for cold waves.

China has a four-tier weather warning system, with red representing the most severe alert, followed by orange, yellow, and blue.

In addition to Beijing, Shanxi and Hebei, parts of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Shaanxi, Henan, Hubei, Shandong, and Liaoning will be hit by heavy snow from Wednesday evening to Thursday evening, according to the National Meteorological Center (NMC).

The NMC also renewed a yellow alert for a cold wave, predicting that temperatures in most parts of China will drop by 8 to 12 degrees Celsius from Wednesday evening to Saturday.