China renews blue alert for sandstorms

BEIJING -- China's national observatory on Tuesday renewed a blue alert for sandstorms in the northern, central and eastern parts of the country.

The warning was downgraded from the yellow alert issued on Monday, when sandstorms blew across the northern parts of the country.

"The sandstorm weather was the most intense in a decade," said Zhang Bihui, an official with the China Meteorological Administration.

The dust originated from Mongolia and traveled southward with a cyclone, hitting most parts of north China, Zhang noted.

A heavy dust storm was reported to have hit the southern Mongolian province of Dundgovi on Sunday, and at least 341 people, mostly nomadic herders, were reported missing, according to the Mongolian emergency management department.

Zhang attributed the sandstorm in China to a combination of a higher land surface temperature, little precipitation and the intensity of the Mongolian cyclone, noting that these conditions occurring together lead to such weather, which is quite rare.

Research results show that China has seen a steady decline in its number of sandy days since 1961.

"Despite significant improvement in recent years thanks to the country's afforestation and sand control projects, extreme sandstorm weather can still occur under very unfavorable meteorological conditions," said Zhang.

The country will step up tree planting and weather forecast efforts, he added.

The National Meteorological Center (NMC) forecast that from Tuesday to 8 a.m. Wednesday, affected by cold fronts and heavy winds, floating sand and dust are expected to sweep parts of Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Hebei, Beijing, Shandong, Anhui, Jiangsu and Hubei, among other regions.

The dust is expected to gradually settle and clear from Wednesday to Thursday due to the upcoming cold front and precipitation, said the NMC.

The center has advised the public to take precautions against the heavy winds and sandstorms, and suggested that drivers prepare for poor visibility.

China has a four-tier color-coded weather warning system for sandstorms, with red representing the most severe, followed by orange, yellow and blue.