Heavy snow and cold wave hit Shandong Province on March 2, causing partial paralysis in local transportation. On the afternoon of March 2, Jinan City issued a “double red alert” as snow depth exceeded 15 millimeters. Prior to this snowfall, Jinan City experienced a high temperature of 22℃.
According to the Shandong Meteorological Observatory, from 10 a.m. on March 2, widespread rain and snowfall occurred in Shandong Province. By 2 p.m. on the same day, the average precipitation in the province was 9.1 millimeters, with snowfall reported in 10 cities and 49 counties. The average snowfall depth was 2.5 millimeters.
At 2:30 p.m. on March 2, the Shandong Meteorological Observatory issued an orange alert for heavy snow, and upgraded the yellow alert for icy roads to an orange alert.
Currently, Shandong Expressway Group has initiated a level III emergency response, closing 101 toll stations under its jurisdiction due to snow and other inclement weather.
Local meteorological authorities reported that the snowfall in Jinan City reached 17.9 millimeters, followed by Zouping in Binzhou with 11.3 millimeters and 10.7 millimeters in the urban area of Binzhou. The meteorological station previously announced that on February 28 and March 1, the highest temperature in Jinan City reached around 22℃.
In the afternoon of March 2, heavy snow in Jinan caused severe traffic disruptions around the airport road. Some Jinan residents posted online, expressing that returning from the airport was completely blocked. They had to divert onto a rural road, moving slowly at a speed of 10 kilometers per hour due to several rear-end collisions along the way.
At 3:46 p.m. on March 2, the Zibo Meteorological Observatory upgraded the orange alert for heavy snow to a red alert in Zhangdian District, where the snowfall had reached 18.2 millimeters. It is predicted that snowfall will continue in all towns and streets of Zhangdian District, High-tech Zone, and Economic Development Zone.
On March 2, several netizens in Shandong shared on social media that due to the snowstorm, the roof of a farmers’ market in Zibo collapsed. They remarked, “We haven’t seen such a heavy snowfall in many years.”
Videos showed part of the roof collapsing at a farmers’ market with a thick layer of snow visible. Another video depicted heavily accumulated snow on the roads, with police cars and fire trucks parked near the market, and caution signs set up at the market entrance.
According to the Shandong Meteorological Bureau, a new round of widespread rain and snowfall is expected to impact Shandong from the southern region on or around 4 p.m. on March 3.