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| A cyclist in Xi'an covers up to keep the dust out. |
SANDSTORMS hit Northwest China's Gansu Province and the western part of the neighbouring Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on Tuesday. They will also arrive in other parts of North China in the next two days.
The Central Meteorological Station released the warning of a strong sandstorm on March 19. It is the first time that the station has released such a report this year, the Beijing Youth Daily reported.
The sandstorm this time is also the strongest sandstorm this year, the weather forecast said.
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| Visibility is poor in the capital. |
During the past two days of Tuesday and Wednesday, visibility in most places in the midwest part of Gansu, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia and the northern part of Shaanxi Province is less than 500 metres. Visibility in some places is between 0 to 50 metres, with gale force 5 to 7.
The sandstorm in Gansu, the province's first this year, appeared on Tuesday morning. In certain areas, the wind speed exceeded 20 metres per second and visibility fell to zero. There was a drastic fall in temperature and snow fell in some areas in the afternoon.
On March 19, the sunshine in Lanzhou, capital of Gansu, disappeared as early as 2:40pm. Two hours later, the city was covered in yellow dust. Some pedestrians wore plastic bags on their heads to protect their hair.
Western Inner Mongolia was hit Tuesday evening. It was the third sandstorm in the region this year. Local meteorologists said the sandstorms would sweep from the west to the east in western Inner Mongolia, and then move into Hebei Province and Beijing.
Beijing has just experienced two consecutive days of sandstorms. The sky in the capital city shows a kind of deep red. Many vehicles turn on front lights early in the morning.
Meteorologists blame the previous winter's drought for the increasing occurrence of sandstorms in China this year. As a result of the drought, sand and dust is more likely to be swept into the air, they say.
The government has invested 3 billion yuan ($361.45 million) in ecological protection projects in Inner Mongolia to harness sandstorms at their origin.
