BEIJING - The National Meteorological Center (NMC) ?on Thursday forecast smog again for northern and eastern parts of the country on Thursday night and Friday.

Hebei Province and Tianjin Municipality in North China, Henan Province in central China, as well as provinces of Shandong and Anhui in the east will be affected.

However, the NMC said that the smog will be short-lived as a new cold front on Saturday will induce widespread rain in central and eastern regions while the northern and northwestern regions will see light to medium snow.