A recent cold wave sweeping across the Chinese mainland has slowed the thawing of the upper and middle reaches of the Yellow River. 🌬️❄️
Local water departments are ramping up ice-flood control measures to ensure safety during the river's thawing period. Ice-jam floods, common in early winter and spring, occur when changing temperatures cause the river to freeze and then thaw, potentially damaging or flooding riverbanks.
Despite the recent delays, some sections are thawing faster than usual. As of January 7, the downstream section in Shandong Province had completely thawed 38 days earlier than the recent average. Similarly, by February 11, the segment in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region had fully thawed eight days ahead of schedule.
However, strong rainfalls and snowfalls between February 20 and 21, triggered by the cold wave, could cause parts of the Yellow River to freeze again. 🌨️⚠️
\"Affected by the cold wave, temperatures in the Yellow River basin are expected to remain relatively low from February 20 to 22, which will lead to a slowdown of the thawing process along the river's upper and middle reaches. Currently, there are still 687.5 kilometers of frozen sections in the Yellow River, mostly in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and the middle reaches region. But overall, the melting of the ice on the river is going smoothly,\" said Zhang Bingduo, director of the flood control division at the Department of Flood and Drought Disaster Prevention of the Ministry of Water Resources.
Stay tuned to NewspaperAmigo.com for more updates on this developing story! 🌍💬✨
