Cold front forecast to bring quick drops in temperature

A cold front is forecast to bring down temperatures in eastern and central China, leading to early snow and heavy rain.

Temperatures are expected to drop by between 6 C to 10 C, and in some parts by 12 C, by Monday, according to the National Meteorological Center.

It will drop to 0 C in Shanxi, Hebei and Liaoning provinces. The Inner Mongolia autonomous region is forecast to have snow and sandy weather from Saturday on, the center said.

The center issued a warning on Oct 2 for cold air — meaning a drop by more than 8 C a day, or more than 10 C in two days — the earliest since the warning system began in 2010.

According to Qilu Evening News based in Shandong, cold air during the holiday caused economic losses for tourism spots in Weifang city.

Four days of rain stopped tourists from sightseeing, caused traffic jams, and led to tourism site operators canceling festival shows.

Zhang Tao, chief forecaster of the center, said that the cold air delivered an extremely rare plunge in temperatures nationwide over the past week.

During the first three days of the National Day holiday, 610 national stations among the total of 2,400 broke records for high temperatures, he said.

For example, on Oct 3, Lu'an city in Anhui province reached a high of 40.7 C, up 4.1 C from the previous record for the period.

Against this background, a round of strong cold air swept from north to south, causing huge drops in temperature that exceeded 20 C, he said.

lihongyang@chinadaily.com.cn