China hit by worst cold snap in three decades

PanARMENIAN.Net - China has geared up to cope with the winter's coldest weekend as the worst cold front in decades sweeps across the country, Xinhua reports.

The national observatory raised the weather warning level from yellow to orange on Saturday morning.

According to the National Meteorological Center (NMC), temperatures dropped 6 to 10 degrees Celsius on Saturday, January 23 morning in parts of northwest China, north China and the Huanghuai area.

China has a four-tier warning system for severe weather, with red being the most serious, followed by orange, yellow and blue.

In Beijing, temperatures dropped to under minus 10 degrees Celsius on Friday and will hit a 30-year low of minus 16 degrees Celsius from Saturday through Sunday, the Beijing meteorological station said, according to Xinhua.

The maximum load of Beijing's power grid system reached about 16.96 million kilowatts at 5:54 p.m. on Friday, setting a record for the capital's winter power supply in recent years.

A total of 465 emergency repair vehicles and 15 emergency generator wagons allocated by Beijing Electric Power Corporation have been ready to help with any power supply problems.