Snow-covered roads in Anyang city, Central China’s Henan Province on December 11, 2023 Photo: IC

Multiple places in Central China’s Henan Province suspend classes and transportation on Tuesday due to continuous snowstorms which are expected to last until Thursday. 

The Henan Meteorological Service issued a yellow alert for snowstorm at 11 pm on Monday, warning that snowfalls of 5 millimeters or above were forecast in multiple cities across the province including Jiyuan, Jiaozuo, Xinxiang, Luoyang and some parts of Zhengzhou between 2 pm and 10 pm. In particular, snowfalls in Jiyuan, western part of Jiaozuo, western part of Xinxiang, Sanmenxia and northwestern part of Luoyang reached 10 millimeters or above. The most extreme snowfall of 20.1 millimeters occurred in Shaoyuan town in Jiyuan city. 

The meteorological observatory in Qinyang city upgraded the snowstorm alert to red at 10:25 pm on Monday, notifying residents of continuous snowfall of 15 millimeters over the past six hours in the city, warning the impact of the snowfalls on the traffic and agricultural production. 

Affected by the snowstorms, primary and middle schools in Jiaozuo downtown suspended classes on Tuesday morning and kindergarten will suspend class for the whole day.  

Sanmenxia also issued an emergency notice to suspend classes at primary schools, kindergarten and training institutions on Tuesday. 

Kindergartens in Qinyang will suspend class for the whole day on Tuesday while primary schools and junior middle schools suspended classes on Tuesday morning. Schools in the mountainous areas in the northern part of the city will suspend classes the whole Tuesday. 

In Jiyuan, non-boarding primary schools and kindergartens will suspend classes on Tuesday and the training institutions and sports venues will suspend operation. Construction projects at schools will also be suspended. 

Meanwhile, highway services across Henan will be subject to traffic control measures. Toll stations along some sections of the highways in Sanmenxia, Luoyang, Xinxiang, Jiyuan, Jiaozuo, Xuchang, Hebi, Zhengzhou, Pingdingshan will prohibit the pass of all kinds of vehicles. 

Several sections of road in Zhengzhou will prohibit the passage of the vehicles transporting dangerous goods. 

In Xin’an and Luoning counties in Luoyang, public transportation and shuttle buses are being suspended. 

Since many roads in mountainous areas and plains have been frozen or covered by snow in Jiyuan, all the public transportation in these areas has been suspended. 

In Zhengzhou, the snowfall has been forecast to last until Tuesday night and the freezing alert for roads in the city remains in effect. 

Seven railway trains departing from Zhengzhou on Tuesday have been suspended as of 9:50 am and dozens of bus lines in the city were also suspended. 

Bus stations across the city will issue alerts of changing weather conditions and warnings of safe driving as well as launch emergency response plans against the rainy and snowy weather conditions. 

The first extensive rain and snow in 2024 has been predicted to last for an extended period of time with severe intensity in some areas. It is forecast that the rain and snow will extend to more than 20 provinces and cities such East China’s Shandong and Anhui provinces. 

Over coming days, mixed rain and snow will continue in Xi'an, Zhengzhou and other places with rain and snow days lasting for three days or longer. Rainfall in Chongqing, Wuhan, Changsha and other places is expected to continue, with rainfall lashing each city for large parts of each day. 

In North China’s Shanxi Province, 59 counties, cities or district were hit by rain and snow weather on Monday. The local meteorological disaster emergency headquarters launched a level-4 emergency response for major meteorological disasters. 

The local meteorological bureau in Shanxi expects that most parts of Shanxi will still have rain and snow in the next three days, and the lowest temperature in areas experiencing extreme cold will drop to near minus 18 C, which will impact transportation, public travel, energy supply, agriculture production and animal husbandry. 

Global Times