Weekend of wacky weather as strong winds, sand, snow and rain hit nation

Some areas experienced gusts between 37 and 41.4 m/s, according to the national observatory.

The powerful winds triggered alerts for five types of meteorological disasters: gales, snowstorms, sandstorms, torrential rain and severe convective weather, which refers to sudden and destructive conditions such as thunderstorms, hail, strong winds and localized heavy rain.

On Saturday, winds continued to batter the north, toppling trees, ripping off roofs, damaging windows and disrupting air travel. The winds also began sweeping into some southern regions.

Meteorological monitoring over the 24-hour period beginning at 3 pm Friday showed that 493 national observation stations recorded historically high wind speeds for April. Hebei province alone accounted for 95 of those stations, with 61 more in neighboring Henan province.

Tianjin's Jizhou district reported winds between 41.5 and 46.1 m/s — surpassing its previous record set in 1951. In Beijing, winds reached up to 45.8 m/s on Saturday, uprooting more than 800 trees and damaging at least 30 cars by mid-afternoon.

In Henan and Shanxi provinces, winds were strong enough to tear off roofs and shatter floor-to-ceiling windows in some buildings.

As of noon on Saturday, more than 3,200 domestic flights had been canceled, the highest daily total so far this year, according to aviation data provider Vari-Flight.