N. China set for more sandy, dusty weather

China is expected to experience more sandy and dusty weather this spring, despite no big change in average density, the national observatory said.

Forecasts show that more such weather events will hit northern China from April to May compared with the average in the past 10 years, according to the China Meteorological Administration.

However, the intensity of these events will be similar to the average of the past decade, it added.

China has suffered four sandy and dusty weather events since March, which is more than the same period in normal years.

From March 19 to Wednesday, for example, strong sandy and dusty weather hit more than 20 provincial-level regions, covering 4.85 million square kilometers, roughly half of the country's land mass, the center added.

Zhang Bihui, an expert with the center, said March is a high-incidence season for sandy and dusty weather, and the natural and meteorological conditions this year are even more favorable for the occurrence of such weather.

In March, with higher temperatures and more gales, both northern China and neighboring Mongolia received less precipitation than normal, he said.

He said these meteorological conditions are expected to continue into April and May, resulting in more airborne sand and dust.

With a new round of cold air set to hit the country from Friday to Sunday, northwestern, northern and northeastern China will be enveloped by sandy and dusty weather, he noted.

Ding Ting, an expert with the National Climate Center, said the lower level of precipitation in the southern part of Mongolia in last year's growing season — less than the average in the past 20 years — has played a role in the situation this year due to a decline in vegetation coverage.

Ding also noted a rare temperature rise in early March as a factor favorable for sandy and dusty weather because frozen soil and sand thawed rapidly.

However, she stressed there was a general declining trend in the frequency of sandy and dusty weather in China, with the annual average in the first 10 years after the new millennium obviously higher than those in the past 10 years.