China receives first snowfall amid blue alert

China today received its first snowfall after the weather department issued a blue alert warning of snow or blizzards in northern part of the country.
Beijing's suburban Miyun District started to experience snow this morning. The city's Huairou District also witnessed snow at around 9:30 am, the meteorological observatory of Beijing said.
Most part of the city is expected to be hit with snow after 8:00 pm.
The rain and snow are forecast to last more than 40 hours, with a blizzard possible for the western and northern areas of the city.
The city will see a significant temperature drop to as low as minus 10 degrees Celsius after the snow.

Beijing Municipal Environmental Monitoring Centre said the snow will disperse the smog and air quality will be good from today to Tuesday, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Earlier China'snational observatory had today issued a blue alert forheavy snow or blizzards.
Some parts of Inner Mongolia, Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei are forecast to embrace heavy snow between 8:00 AM today and 8:00 am tomorrow, according to the National Meteorological Center (NMC).
Some parts of Beijing and Hebei are likely to see a blizzard during the period, said the NMC.
The people in these regions have been advised to stay indoors, and warned to take protective and emergency measures against snow and frost.

China has a four-tier colour-coded system for severe weather, with red being the most serious, followed by orange, yellow and blue.
From today to Thursday, temperatures in most parts of central and eastern China are forecast to decline by 6 to 10 degrees Celsius, the NMC had said yesterday.