Smog shrouds northern China, rain to hit south

BEIJING - Smog will continue to cloak northern China, and heavy rain is to hit the areas to the south of the Yangtze River on Sunday, the National Meteorological Center (NMC) forecast.

The NMC maintained yellow alert for smog for the sixth consecutive day and fog for the seventh day, which is expected to be dispersed by a cold front in the next 48 hours.

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

The NMC said the smog and heavy fog will still linger in parts of Hebei, Shanxi, Henan, Shandong, Jiangsu, Anhui and Liaoning provinces in North and Northeast China, as well as Beijing and Tianjin municipalities on Sunday.

Heavy rainfall is to sweep the areas to the south of the Yangtze River, while snow will hit parts of Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, Inner Mongolia autonomous region and Jilin Province on Sunday, the NMC said.