China renews yellow alert for strong winds

BEIJING -- China's National Meteorological Center (NMC) on Friday renewed a yellow alert for strong winds.

From 8 am Friday to 8 am Saturday, strong winds are expected in China's northeastern provinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning; parts of Inner Mongolia autonomous region, the northern region, and the Huanghuai region -- a geographical area that encompasses parts of several provinces, including Henan, Anhui, Jiangsu and Shandong; and some areas in Xizang autonomous region, Qinghai province and Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

Powerful winds are also expected to hit some areas of the Bohai Sea, the Yellow Sea, the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait, the Bashi Channel and the South China Sea.

The NMC also renewed a blue alert for a cold wave, saying that from Friday to Saturday, a cold wave is expected to chill China, causing temperature drops in parts of the northwest and northern regions, the Huanghuai region, most parts of the southern region, the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau and the western Sichuan plateau. In some regions, the temperature drop could exceed 10 degrees Celsius.

China has a four-tier, color-coded weather warning system for strong winds, with red representing the most severe warning, followed by orange, yellow and blue.