Strong cold wave to hit vast parts of China

BEIJING, April 20 (Xinhua) -- A strong cold front will sweep many parts of China in the coming days, bringing strong winds and low temperatures, the country's national observatory said on Thursday.

Affected by the cold air, many regions in China will experience temperature drops of 6 to 10 degrees Celsius from Thursday to Sunday, according to the National Meteorological Center.

From 8 a.m. Thursday to 8 a.m. Saturday, temperatures are expected to fall by over 12 degrees Celsius in parts of Jilin, Gansu, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Hebei, Henan and Hubei, accompanied by strong winds.

The center also forecast that rainfall will hit central and eastern parts of the country from Thursday to Monday.

It called for stepping up preparedness for strong winds and temperature declines in the next few days and called for being mindful of secondary disasters that could result from heavy precipitation and severe convective weather.