Hong Kong CNN —Heavy snow and rain is forecast to hit central and eastern China in the coming days, threatening travel plans for hundreds of millions of Chinese workers heading home for the Lunar New Year. However, Xu Jun, chief forecaster from the Central Meteorological Observatory, told CCTV the forecast snowfall won’t be as heavy or widespread as that experienced around the holiday season 16 years ago. “The rain and snow overlap with the peak period of Spring Festival travel. This has posed risks to safe (travel) and brought inconvenience to the transportation,” weather expert Wang Lijuan, from China Meteorological Administration, told CCTV. Xu, from the Central Meteorological Observatory, told CCTV freezing rain could affect many provinces over an area as wide as 43,000 square kilometers (16,600 square miles).

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Persons: Xu Jun, Wang Lijuan, Xu Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, Central Meteorological Observatory, Meteorological, Festival, China Meteorological Administration, Central Meteorological Locations: Hong Kong, China, Hebei, Henan, Shandong, Liaoning, Hubei, Zhengzhou, China's, Xinjiang, Anhui, Weibo, Mohe, Heilongjiang