SHENYANG, March 6 (Xinhua) -- The worst March snowstorm to hit northeast China in 56 years has caused huge damages to some cities but meteorologists said it has helped ease the spring drought that has plagued most northern provinces in the past weeks.

    "Despite the inconvenience to urban traffic, the snowstorm did more good than harm because it has brought much-needed rainwater to the arid land," said Zhang Lixiang, deputy director of the Liaoning Provincial Meteorological Bureau.

    The snowstorm, which brought 36 millimeters of precipitation in the provincial capital Shenyang, 56 mm in Dalian and 78 mm in the worst-hit city of Anshan, provided 6 billion cubic meters of water to the province, he said. "It's equivalent to six reservoirs of water -- a boon to the arid farmland."

    A satellite survey by Zhang's bureau last week showed more than1 million hectares of farmland in Liaoning were suffering from drought, a result of rainwater shortages throughout the past year.

    "Liaoning Province has experienced its warmest winter in 56 years with the average temperature between December and February up 3.4 degrees Celsius on normal winter temperatures," said Zhang.

    Rainfall, however, was down at least 30 percent and ground water levels in the more arid western areas dropped by 12 to 35 cm from last year, he added.

    But the provincial agricultural department said farmers will suffer huge losses in the aftermath of the storm because of traffic disruption. "At least 500,000 tons of vegetables will start to rot because traffic will not be fully restored for up to 10 days," a spokesman said Tuesday without giving his name.

    Though no overall calculation has been made so far, the snowstorm -- which destroyed the equivalent of 10,000 hectares of indoor grain, vegetable and fruit -- has cost Liaoning province alone at least 100 million yuan (12.8 million U.S. dollars), the provincial agricultural department said on Tuesday.

    The blizzard, lasting from Saturday afternoon through Monday, closed 11 expressways in Liaoning Province for more than 48 hours and disrupted traffic on secondary roads.

    It also destroyed houses and blacked out parts of the coastal city of Dalian. Several million students had to stay at home Monday and Tuesday.

    Three people died when the roofs of two market buildings collapsed under the weight of the snow on Sunday in Liaoning Province.

    High winds destroyed 1,100 ramshackle homes and damaged another1,300, a spokesman with the provincial civil affairs department said on Monday.

    The blizzard also affected many other Chinese regions over the weekend.

    In Ordos, a city in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, snow drifts measured up to one meter after the heaviest snow in its recorded history fell over the weekend. More than 200,000 people were affected and at least 30,000 heads of cattle died, causing an estimated 51.8 million yuan of losses, said Xu Baya'er, deputy head of the local civil affairs department.

    Snow also fell on most parts of the southwestern Tibet Autonomous Region, with snowdrifts of up to 69 centimeters in Nyalam, on the China-Nepal border.

    Nyalam and some other cities in the southwestern part of Tibet have experienced eight snowstorms in the past month, making things very difficult for the local traffic and stockbreeding industries, said the regional meteorological bureau.

    The bureau has forecast light snow in parts of Nagqu, Qamdo and Nyingchi Tuesday and Wednesday and gales up to 90 km per hour in northern areas.