Moderate to heavy snow blanketed the capital city during Monday morning's rush hour, causing traffic jams and accidents on some sections of the Third and Second Ring roads.

By 9 am, almost 2 millimeters of snow was lying on the ground, particularly in northern and western parts of the city.

However, dominated by a weak cold front that originated in Siberia and a warm and humid air mass, the snow did not cause a large drop in temperature, said Li Deguang, from the Beijing Meteorological Station.

The highest temperature in Beijing is expected to reach 6 C, with a night time low of zero, the meteorologist said.

More snow is expected this weekend and temperatures are likely to rise steadily after this.

Thanks to last winter's increased precipitation in North China, Beijing has been spared some of the worst natural disasters of the spring season - dust and sandstorms as well as sand drifting toward the city.

"The number of sand or dust storm-prone days may be fewer than average this year in Beijing," said Li in a telephone interview.

The city has not witnessed many heavy cold air masses which lead to strong winds. Winds of force 6 and above could cause sandstorms, Li said.

The damper weather in Beijing also cheered up Jiang Deming, a deputy from East China's Jiangsu Province to the ongoing National People's Congress (NPC).

"The fresh air and snow this morning buoyed up the mood of me and my fellow deputies," Jiang said. "I remember that in the previous years, we were greatly annoyed by the dusty and windy weather in Beijing in spring when we were here to attend the annual NPC meeting."

The snowy weather did not cause any delays or flight cancellations at the Beijing Capital International Airport.

However, airport sources have said they are prepared for more disruptions to flight services with more snow forecast for the coming days.

(China Daily March 11, 2003)