"Beautiful snowflakes" fall in Shanghai, melt away

Shanghai had its second snow of this winter, a heavier and more widespread snowfall than the one last month, the weatherman said on Sunday.

Large snowflakes greeted people everywhere across the city at noon and a lot of residents came outside to enjoy the snow and take pictures.

"I'm very happy to see such beautiful snowflakes flying in the sky," a resident said excitedly to Shanghai Daily. "You know, snow is not usual in Shanghai."

The amount of snowfall was estimated from 1 to 4 millimeters in different districts, according to Shanghai Meteorological Bureau. But the snow did not accumulate because the ground temperature was above freezing.

"It's a light snow, but very apparent." said Li Jinyu, chief service officer of the bureau. "The snow spread from west to east in the city and lasted longer than last one."

Sleet first appeared in the city at the western Qingpu District at about 11am, then gradually turned to snow and spread all over the city, Li said.

"The snow was caused by the joint impact of warm and moist air and the cold front from the north," Li said.

The snow ended yesterday evening, and no more snow is forecast in the next few days, Li said.

A cold front was expected to hit the city overnight. Today's low temperature will be 1 degree Celsius below zero; the high will be 6 degrees above. Ice might appear in some suburban areas, with minimum temperatures there touching minus 3 to minus 2 degrees, Li said.

The temperature will rise a little on Tuesday, to low of 1 degree and a high of 9.

There is no severe cold in the forecast. The bureau said this week's weather will be mainly cloudy today through Thursday and will turn drizzly on Friday. The lows will be around 1 to 3 degrees, with highs of about 9.

Prices of vegetables are not expected to fluctuate much during the cold, authorities said, as plans have been made to handle contingencies.

"We are able to maintain the supply for a while if there is a shortage," said Fang Shiguo, manager of a food wholesaling market. "We've been increasing the stock of vegetables and fruit."

The city's earlier snow this year was on November 19, a brief shower that arrived around 7am.

It didn't accumulate either.

Source: People's Daily Online.
Link: http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90782/90872/6853737.html.