By Ying Guoliang in Yushu and Song Shengxia in Beijing

Chinese flags will fly at half-staff Wednesday for a national day of mourning for the victims of last week's earthquake in northwest Qinghai Province that killed at least 2,064.

The toll is likely to keep rising, as 175 people were still listed Tuesday as missing. The total number of injured in Yushu prefecture was 12,135.

Throughout the country, as well as at Chinese embassies and consulates overseas, the national flag will be lowerered, while in Qinghai Province three minutes of silence will be observed starting at 10 am - one week since the 7.1-magnitude quake hit.

Additional memorial ceremonies will be held in the town of Gyegu in Yushu, the epicenter, and at other sites such as Xining, the provincial capital. All public entertainment will be suspended.

Tuesday, a hailstorm swept through Gyegu at noon as lunch was served in the quake area, halting traffic and slowing the delivery of badly needed relief. The hail was the latest in a string of inclement weather in recent days, including snow, rain, freezing temperatures and thin air due to the high altitude.

A People's Daily reporter told the Global Times that the traffic was briefly disrupted by the hail, and there was plenty of thunder and lightning as well.

"On our way from the town of Longbao to Gyegu, I encountered peanut-sized hail. I had to stop my engine. At that time, a car crashed in front of me, and I had to wait for half an hour after the hailstorms stopped," he recalled.

Meteorologists had earlier warned that lightning rods should be erected on tents in the quake-hit area because they were set up with metal materials, which are prone to strikes.

"There will be a lot of thunderstorms in Yushu in May, so 100 lightning rods will be installed at major resettlement areas," said Tsering Tashi, deputy chief of the Yushu Prefecture Meteorological Bureau.

Tuesday's storm, which lasted about 40 minutes, also left a blanket of snow across the barren lands and atop tents.

"Luckily enough, the sun came up soon and the snow is melting," Yao Honghua, a rescueworker with China International Search and Rescue, told the Global Times shortly after the snow stopped.

Since Monday night, roads leading to the disaster area have experienced spells of snow and rain, and in some areas snow accumulated to 4 centimeters and ice formed on the surface, making it dangerous to drive on, Ma Yuancang, deputy head of the Qinghai provincial meteorology bureau, told Xinhua.

• wednesday [´wenzdi] n.星期三 (初中词汇)
• mourning [´mɔ:niŋ] n.悲伤；治丧；戴孝 (初中词汇)
• province [´prɔvins] n.省；领域；范围 (初中词汇)
• missing [´misiŋ] a.缺掉的；失踪的 (初中词汇)
• entertainment [,entə´teinmənt] n.招(款)待；联欢会 (初中词汇)
• traffic [´træfik] n.交通，运输 (初中词汇)
• relief [ri´li:f] n.救济；援救；减轻 (初中词汇)
• briefly [´bri:fli] ad.简短地；简略地 (初中词汇)
• thunder [´θʌndə] n.雷 vi.打雷 vt.吼出 (初中词汇)
• lightning [´laitniŋ] n.闪电 a.突然的 (初中词汇)
• barren [´bærən] a.贫瘠的；不生育的 (初中词汇)
• rescue [´reskju:] vt.&n.救援；挽救 (初中词汇)
• worker [´wə:kə] n.工人；劳动者；工作者 (初中词汇)
• international [,intə´næʃənəl] a.国际的，世界的 (初中词汇)
• shortly [´ʃɔ:tli] ad.立刻，马上；不久 (初中词汇)
• disaster [di´zɑ:stə] n.灾难，不幸 (初中词汇)
• bureau [´bjuərəu] n.局；编辑部；事务所 (初中词汇)
• earthquake [´ə:θkweik] n.地震；大变动 (高中词汇)
• northwest [,nɔ:θ´west] n.&ad.西北(部) (高中词汇)
• memorial [mi´mɔ:riəl] a.纪念的 n.纪念物 (高中词汇)
• delivery [di´livəri] n.送交；分娩；交货 (高中词汇)
• reporter [ri´pɔ:tə] n.报告人；记者；广播员 (高中词汇)
• deputy [´depjuti] n.代理人；代表 (高中词汇)
• provincial [prə´vinʃəl] a.省的 n.外省人 (四级词汇)
• inclement [in´klemənt] a.冷酷无情的 (四级词汇)
• experienced [ik´spiəriənst] a.有经验的；熟练的 (四级词汇)
• overseas [,əuvə´si:z] ad.(向)海外 a.海外的 (六级词汇)