A rider is covered with snow in Tianjin, North China, Feb 13, 2011. Tianjin saw the second snowfall this winter on Sunday. [Photo/Xinhua]

BEIJING - Snowfall in north China on Sunday helped ease persistent drought in the region and will gradually diminish over the next two days, the national meteorological authority said Sunday.

The National Meteorological Center (NMC) said snowfall in the north will move eastward to Hebei and Shandong provinces before it ends on Monday morning, while snow in regions along the Yellow and Huai rivers will diminish in the next two days.

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Temperatures will drop 2 to 6 degrees Celsius in those regions.

The NMC said the snowfall had eased the drought to some extent in those areas, as most parts of north China and western Shandong had received 1 to 5 millimeters of precipitation since Wednesday.

Jiangsu Province in the east, and parts of central provinces of Anhui and Henan also received 5 to 10 mm of precipitation during the period.

Most parts of Shandong, Henan, Anhui, Jiangsu and Shanxi still suffer severe drought, the NMC said.