BEIJING: An early-season snowstorm blanketed much of northern China including the capital Beijing, prompting highway closures and flight and train cancellations and delays.

Temperatures plunged to freezing and below as a cold front moved from west to east. A steady, blowing snow fell on Sunday in Beijing, the nearby city of Tianjin and northeastern China after hitting parts of Inner Mongolia and other western regions the previous day.

The National Meteorological Centre issued an orange alert for snowstorms, the second highest level in China’s four-tier warning system. Accumulations of more than 30 centimetres (11 inches) were forecast in some areas.

Beijing was hit hardest on Sunday morning. Several highway sections were closed, bus service was suspended on more than 160 routes and flights were reduced at the city’s two major airports, state media said. High-speed trains to Tianjin and Shanghai were canceled or delayed. The skies cleared in the Chinese capital in the afternoon as the storm moved farther east.

The snow was a welcome sight at the skiing venues for the Beijing Winter Olympics, which will be held in February next year. Beijing typically has a dry climate, and most of the snow for the competitions is expected to be artificial.

Published in Dawn, November 8th, 2021