A thick haze descends on Beijing as a sandstorm blankets the city, on March 28, 2021. [Photo/Xinhua]
BEIJING - China's national observatory on Saturday issued a yellow alert for sandstorms in the northern part of the country.
From Saturday to 8 am Sunday, floating sand and dust are expected to sweep parts of Xinjiang, Qinghai, Inner Mongolia, Gansu, Ningxia, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shandong, Liaoning and Jilin, the National Meteorological Center forecast.
The sandstorm makes commuting difficult in Beijing, on March 28, 2021. [Photo/Xinhua]
Some regions in Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Hebei, Beijing, Tianjin and Liaoning will be hit by sandstorms, the center said.
It has advised the public to take precautions against the heavy winds and sandstorms, and suggested that drivers prepare for poor visibility.
The sandstorm rolls into Beijing, on March 28, 2021. [Photo/Xinhua]
China has a four-tier color-coded weather warning system for sandstorms with red representing the most severe, followed by orange, yellow, and blue.
Meteorological authorities in Beijing forecast on Saturday that strong sandstorms will sweep through the Chinese capital starting Sunday morning and last for more than 12 hours, reducing the city's minimum visibility to around 1,000 meters.
A thick haze descends on Beijing as a sandstorm blankets the city, on March 28, 2021. [Photo/Xinhua]
The intensity of Sunday's sandstorm is, however, expected to be lower than the heavy storm that hit Beijing on March 15 and brought the city's minimum visibility below 800 meters, said Zhang Linna, a forecaster with the Beijing municipal meteorological station.
The new round of sandstorms is expected to gradually weaken from Sunday night, Zhang added.
