Festival weather should cooperate

Cold air is unlikely to spoil the upcoming Spring Festival holiday in most parts of the country, though some travelers may face bouts of high wind and snow on their journeys home for family reunions.

Temperatures in most areas in the country are expected to be slightly higher than average and the possibility of freezing rain and snow are "very low", according to the China Meteorological Administration.

However, two bouts of cold air are forecast to affect the northern parts of the country around Sunday and again on Feb 7, but they are not expected to bring big temperature fluctuations because they are weak, said Chen Tao, chief forecaster with the National Meteorological Center, in a news conference on Thursday.

The seven-day Spring Festival holiday this year will start on Monday.

Zhang Zuqiang, spokesman for the administration, said southern parts of the country are expected to experience more precipitation than average during the holiday, and most of it will fall around Feb 7.

The region around the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, for example, will receive precipitation of 2 to 4 centimeters, he said.

He also said the administration has been publishing special weather reports every day since Jan 18 to serve the 40-day Spring Festival travel rush, which started on Jan 21. People could get reports from TV, radio and new media channels such as Sina Weibo.

Zhang said the country experienced a comparatively warm and dry January, with an average temperature across the country of－4.1 C－0.9 C higher than average. The country received average precipitation of 11.9 millimeters, 10 percent less than average, he said.

Many areas have been stricken by high winds, snow or sleet since a bout of cold air penetrated into the country on Monday and brought a temperature decrease of up to 18 C.

On Wednesday, many areas in Shandong, Henan, Jiangsu, Anhui, Hubei and Hunan provinces were engulfed by rain, snow or sleet. The precipitation in some areas was up to 4 centimeters, according to the National Meteorological Center.

The center said the cold air penetrated further to affect southern parts of the country on Thursday, resulting in a temperature decrease of up to 12 C.