BEIJING - China's national observatory warned on Saturday that a heavy snowstorm is expected to descend in northeast regions while dense fog will envelope some northern provinces.

Snowstorms will hit Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and northeastern provinces on Saturday and Sunday, with some areas expected to see snowfall of 13 millimeters in Heilongjiang Province, the National Meteorological Center said.

Dense fog will reduce visibility in certain areas of Beijing and Tianjin as well as Hebei and Henan provinces to less than 200 meters on Saturday, it said.

Temperatures were forecast to plunge in Inner Mongolia as well as other areas of north and northeast China, by up to 14 degrees Celsius in some regions as a strong cold front sweep across these areas over the next three days.