Cold front brings rain, chill

The cold front sweeping North China will extend into central and eastern parts of the country, causing snowfall in the northeast regions, meteorologists said on Sunday.

Due to a mass of cold air moving in, central and southern parts of North China, southeastern parts of Northeast China, southern parts of Henan province, northern and central parts of Anhui province and most parts of Jiangsu province will witness a dramatic fall in temperatures on Sunday and Monday.

Some places can even expect the mercury to fall by as much as 10 degrees, the National Meteorological Center said on its website.

Strong winds and falling temperatures will also spread to areas near the Yellow, Huaihe and Yangtze rivers, along with heavy rainfall in some regions, according to the center.

Central and eastern parts of Jilin province and the southeastern part of Heilongjiang province will see heavy snow on Sunday and Monday.

The Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region and Qinghai province, along with the Inner Mongolia and Tibet autonomous regions, will witness snowfall and sleet throughout Monday and Tuesday, the center said.

On Sunday morning, Beijing was hit by light to moderate rain, which affected the capital late into the night and brought the temperature down by 8 degrees.

Winds of up to 38 kilometers per hour are expected to sweep through the city on Monday, bringing the temperature down to 3 C on Monday, according to the meteorological center.

"Now I truly understand the old saying, 'each autumn rain brings the chill and 10 autumn rains bring you warm clothes'," said Zhao Dixin, a white-collar worker in Beijing. "I'm almost frozen. It seems winter has come overnight."

In the eastern coastal province of Shandong, all 17 major cities saw rain Sunday. The wet weather is expected to continue until Monday morning. Coming with the precipitation is a cold front that will bring frost to some places, according to the provincial meteorological bureau.

Henan, a neighboring province, also experienced light rain on Sunday. Cold winds hit most of the province and cooled temperatures there.

In Shanxi province, meteorological authorities issued blue warnings on gales and cold on Sunday morning, saying many places would see rains and sleet, and strong winds would continue through to Monday and result in a sharp drop in temperature and frost on Tuesday.

Meteorological authorities in China use a four-color weather warning system, with red being the most severe, followed by orange, yellow and blue.

Cold fronts also brought rain to Central China's Hunan province, sweeping away dense fog that covered the province on Sunday morning. The provincial meteorological bureau forecast that more incoming cold air would arrive early on Monday, bringing with it more rainfall. The mercury is expected to fall by 6 to 8 degrees that day.

Manufacturers and retailers of electronic heaters and down jackets have welcomed the falling temperatures, having seen a surge in sales since mid-October, when the cold front began to hit most of China.

Electronic heaters in home appliance stores in Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang province, have been selling well. Many residents were buying heaters to warm their houses before the central heating service began on Saturday, Heilongjiang Morning News reported.

The heating is turned on in Chinese cities at different times from mid-October to mid-November.