A third dump of snow may fall on Beijing on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Zhang said his office will continue to monitor the conditions and may intervene to encourage more snow to fall in the coming days.

As of early Saturday, Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shandong, Shanxi, Henan, Jiangsu and Anhui had collectively carried out 869 precipitation enhancement procedures to encourage precipitation and alleviate droughts, the NMC said. It added that the situation in most parts of Henan, Shandong, Jiangsu and Anhui remained severe.