A powerful cold wave is gripping large parts of China this week, driving temperatures sharply lower and pushing the freezing line steadily south, according to the National Meteorological Center.

The center continued to issue blue alerts — the lowest of a four-tiered color-coded warning system — for a cold wave and strong winds on Tuesday morning, forecasting that the cold air will keep moving east and south through Wednesday.

Yang Shunan, chief forecaster at the center, said the cold wave has already gripped the entire northern part of the country and continues to push south.

As of Tuesday afternoon, temperatures in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, Northeast China and North China had fallen by 6 to 10 C, with some areas recording drops of 12 to 14 C. These regions, along with the Shandong and Liaodong peninsulas, have also recorded winds of up to 39 kilometers per hour, Yang said.

On Tuesday, Beijing and Tianjin recorded their coldest morning of the second half of the year at around minus 5 C, while Changchun in Jilin province, Shenyang in Liaoning province and Shijiazhuang in Hebei province also hit new seasonal lows.

The cold wave is set to keep pressing south over the next two days, bringing the coldest conditions of the season so far to large parts of central and eastern China. In some areas of Jiangsu, Anhui and Zhejiang provinces, temperatures are expected to plunge by more than 10 C, with wind chills exacerbating the cold conditions.

"The most notable features of this cold wave are its complex weather impacts and the significant temperature plunge," Yang said.

In addition to strong winds and plummeting temperatures, sand and dust storms were reported in parts of Inner Mongolia and North China in the early stages of the cold air outbreak.

Unlike the cold wave in mid-November, which took a more westerly track and brought sharper temperature drops to southern and western regions, the current system is tracking slightly farther north, resulting in the strongest cooling being concentrated north of the Yangtze River, she said.

On Wednesday morning, the nation's coldest regions will be in parts of the northeast, northwest and North China, according to the center.

Minimum temperatures below minus 10 C are forecast across more than 10 provincial-level regions, including the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region as well as the provinces of Qinghai, Gansu and Hebei.

Major northeastern cities such as Harbin and Changchun may see temperatures dip below minus 20 C for the first time this season. Forecasters advise commuters and students to bundle up with hats, gloves and scarves to avoid frostbite.

By Thursday, the freezing line will reach its southernmost point during this cold spell, extending into parts of Zhejiang, Anhui and Hubei. The cold wave is expected to weaken and come to an end from late Wednesday into Thursday night, Yang said.

zhaoyimeng@chinadaily.com.cn