Snow closes schools and highways in northern China for the second time this week

BEIJING — Schools and highways were closed and some train services suspended on Wednesday as a snowstorm hit parts of northern and central China for the second time this week.

A steady, blowing snow began falling in the late morning in the Chinese capital, Beijing, where authorities closed schools and some scenic spots in outlying mountainous areas. Several trains departing Beijing and in China's northwest Xinjiang region were canceled because of either snow or high winds.

The China Meteorological Administration forecast accumulation of 5 to 15 centimeters (2 to 6 inches) for a swath of provinces south and west of Beijing, and said it could reach 20 centimeters (8 inches) in some places. The snow was expected to continue into Thursday.

More than 100 sections of highways and other roads were closed in about half a dozen provinces, most of them in Shanxi province, a coal-mining region west and south of Beijing.

The snowfall is expected to be followed by bitter cold. Temperatures were forecast to plunge across northern China this week, with a cold front moving eastward from Xinjiang in the west and reaching Beijing by the weekend.