 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| . |  |
. |
Freezing weather spreads across north China: state media
Beijing (AFP) Dec 24, 2009 A cold snap that blanketed China's far-western Xinjiang region with snow, sparking power cuts and flight cancellations, is spreading across other parts of the nation, state media said Thursday. Temperatures have fallen as low as minus 40 degrees Celsius (Fahrenheit) in parts of Xinjiang, and winds of up to 100 kilometres (60 miles) an hour whipped some areas, the official Xinhua news agency reported. The cold spell is now moving east, and the National Meteorological Centre has forecast heavy snow over large swathes of northern China over the next few days, the report said. China's capital Beijing is also expected to be hit by strong winds and icy temperatures, while several provinces in the south are experiencing fog, rain and sharp drops in temperature, it added. Heavy fog in southwestern Sichuan province has closed down the airport in the capital Chengdu. The international airport in Xinjiang's capital Urumqi was closed earlier this week due to snow, leaving nearly 4,000 passengers stranded, Xinhua said. Employees cleared the snow off the runway and planes started taking off again Wednesday afternoon. The snow also cut off power and heat supplies in Yining, a city of 430,000 people, overnight from Tuesday. In January and February 2008, China was hit with its worst winter weather in half a century, when heavy snow and freezing cold swept across the south, destroying crops and wreaking havoc on infrastructure. The cold spell that winter killed at least 107 people and caused over 15 billion dollars in economic losses. Share This Article With Planet Earth
Related Links It's A White Out at TerraDaily.com
St Petersburg turned white by heaviest snow in centurySaint Petersburg (AFP) Dec 24, 2009 Saint Petersburg has been blanketed in white by the heaviest snowfall to hit the former Russian imperial capital since 1881, local authorities said on Thursday. On Wednesday evening, there was a nine-centimetre (3.5-inch) coat of snow across the city of five million, rising to 14 centimetres (5.5 inches) on Thursday, St Petersburg council said. The exceptional snowfall -- the highest sin ... read more |
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2009 - SpaceDaily. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |
del.icio.us
Digg
Reddit
YahooMyWeb
Google
Facebook