Cold Snap in Northwest China Leaves Livestock Trapped and Herdsmen Missing

What’s new: A strong cold front and snowstorm swept through Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region over the weekend, leaving herdsmen missing and livestock trapped amid heavy snowfalls — an outcome likely exacerbated by pandemic control measures, Caixin has learned.

Local meteorological stations issued a red warning for a cold front on Saturday, the first such alert since 2008 when Xinjiang began providing weather disaster warnings. The city of Fukang in central-north Xinjiang saw the temperature drop 26.5 degrees Celsius in just 24 hours.