A strong cold front has brought heavy snow and freezing temperatures across northern China, disrupting transportation and prompting emergency responses.
Since Monday, a powerful cold wave has swept across many parts of China, bringing much snow and plunging temperatures. In some areas, conditions have reached extreme levels, with temperatures in parts of Liaoning Province in the northeast expected to drop as low as minus 26 degrees Celsius, and parts of northern Shanxi Province in the northwest bracing for lows around minus 22 degrees Celsius.
Starting Monday night, Heilongjiang Province in the northwest experienced widespread snow, with some areas seeing snow precipitation reaching blizzard levels. Traffic authorities in Harbin, the provincial capital, mobilized all personnel to manage road safety and increased staffing in high-risk areas. As of 11:00 Tuesday, 18 highways in Heilongjiang were fully closed, and 19 others were under speed limits or partial restrictions due to road conditions.
Beginning Tuesday, Liaoning Province has a large-scale snowstorm moving from west to east. The provincial capital Shenyang is expecting heavy to blizzard-level snowfall. Early in the morning, authorities issued multiple road icing warnings and activated a Level 3 yellow snow emergency response. Over 2,100 specialized snow removal vehicles and more than 14,000 sanitation workers have been deployed to clear the snow while it's falling to minimize the impact of icing on roads. Meteorological agencies predict temperatures will plummet after snow, with lowest temperatures in Liaoning expected to fall to minus 26 degrees Celsius by Thursday.
Late Monday night, cities in Shanxi Province, including Changzhi, Datong and Xinzhou, also experienced rain and snow. The provincial weather service issued yellow warnings for icy roads. By 08:00 on Tuesday, several highway sections had been shut down. The provincial meteorological station forecasts that the cold and windy weather will persist through Wednesday, with the coldest regions in northern Shanxi expecting temperatures to fall to around minus 22 degrees Celsius.
In Gansu Province in the northwest, snow began to fall in the early hours of Monday and spread from west to east. In Jiuquan, icy road conditions led to temporary traffic restrictions on several highways. National Highway 312 and Provincial Highway 215 in Jiayuguan also experienced snow and falling temperatures. In response, maintenance units were dispatched to clear snow with machines or manually.
Unusual snow weather was also reported over the last two days in the heart of the Taklimakan Desert, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Roads running through the area were lined with snow-covered ridges, replacing the usual scenery of golden sand with shimmering white expanses.
Heavy snow sweeps northern China
