The snow and rain which have been drenching the city for the past four days probably constitute one of the city's heaviest falls ever.

Weathermen said that by 8pm yesterday, the city had experienced rain and snow measuring 47.9 millimeters since Friday, more than the previous record fall noted on January 17 and 18 in 1984.

Yesterday Chongming County suffered the most heaviest snow storm in the city with 16 centimeters of snow collecting on the island. In downtown Xujiahui area 1.5 centimeters of snow was recorded, officials said.

Some areas of the city had not only snow and rain, but also ice particles, said the Shanghai Metereological Bureau. "Ice particles are formed when the temperature near the ground is even lower than that in the sky,'' said Dai Jianhua, a bureau forecaster.

Dai said the snow that began falling at midnight started to melt during the day, reducing the ground surface temperature and causing the ice particles to form.

The bureau changed its yellow road freeze alert on Saturday to an orange one at 8:07am.

The snow is expected to stop early this morning and overcast skies are expected for the next three days, with drizzle and some snow. But more heavy snow is expected on Friday when a cold front south of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River moves north. Forecasters say it will not be as severe as the snow of the past few days.

(Shanghai Daily January 29, 2008)