(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-02-05 06:33

CAIRO - The worst winter weather in 50 years in China's central, southern and eastern regions could be connected to air cyclone change and the La Nina phenomenon, the climatic opposite of El Nino, an Egyptian meteorological official said Monday.

A truck driver peers through a hole in his ice-covered windshield while waiting for help on the road in Shaoguan, South China's Guangdong Province, February 2, 2008. [Xinhua]

Ehab Abdel Razek, an expert at the Egyptian Meteorological Authority told Xinhua that the heavy snow that snarled central and southern China could be due to climatic change as there are many cyclones hovering near those areas.

"The Siberian polar air masses are very strong this month," he added.

Meanwhile, Razek expressed his confidence that the Chinese government knows how to deal with this snow crisis.

La Nina is a large pool of unusually cold water in the equatorial Pacific that develops every few years and influences global weather. It is the climatic opposite of El Nino, a warming of the Pacific.

Since January 10, snow, sleet and low temperatures have swept China's southern regions, a rarity for the area. The terrible weather has been more extreme in the central provinces of Hubei and Hunan.

A lingering blizzard, which has lasted more than two weeks, was the longest in the past 100 years. In Hunan, ice coating electricity transmission cables was between 30 and 60 millimeters thick.

Statistics show that the snow has so far killed at least 60 people and forced the evacuation of nearly 1.76 million people. From January 25 to 31, a total of 5.8 million passengers were stranded throughout the railway network and more than 8,000 cargo trains were affected.