Weather stabilizing as strong winds, sandstorms ease

Weather conditions are beginning to normalize after a recent cold air mass triggered unseasonably strong winds and widespread sandstorms, disrupting daily life across China, forecasters said.

The powerful gusts, which began sweeping through central and eastern regions on Thursday, have been marked by wide coverage, extended duration and high wind speeds, according to the National Meteorological Center.

More than 3.5 million square kilometers — over one-third of the country's land area — recorded wind gusts exceeding 61.92 km/h, the center said on Monday. The strongest winds occurred from Saturday to Sunday, with localized gusts reaching between 149.4 and 183.24 km/h in places such as Beijing, Tianjin, the provinces of Hebei and Henan, and the Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

A total of 327 national-level weather stations recorded their highest wind speeds for April, with 64 of them — located in provinces such as Hebei, Henan, Shaanxi and Shanxi — setting all-time records.

Xin Xin, chief analyst at Weather China, attributed the event to a collision between strong cold air and warm, humid airflow, intensified by descending momentum from a high-altitude cold high-pressure system.

The winds carried sand and dust across northern China, affecting areas including Hebei, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu province and the Xinjiang Uygur, Inner Mongolia and Ningxia Hui autonomous regions. Visibility in some places dropped below 500 meters. Dust was also transported as far south as Chongqing, Guizhou province, Guangdong province, Fujian province, Hainan province and the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

Rao Xiaoqin, senior forecaster at the NMC, said it is rare for sand and dust to impact southern regions so extensively. The last major episode reaching Fujian and Taiwan occurred in March 2010, she said.

In Hainan, the northern part of the island reported severe air pollution on Sunday morning due to the dust. Lingao county reached severe pollution level, while nine other counties registered moderate to mild pollution levels.

With winds expected to weaken and airborne dust to settle, forecasters in regions such as Hainan, Guangdong and Chongqing said air quality should improve beginning from Monday or later this week.

Although the NMC issued a yellow alert — the second lowest of four warning levels — for strong winds on Monday morning, it lifted previous warnings for sandstorms, blizzards and ocean swells.

Ma Xuekuan, senior forecaster at the NMC, said cold air events in spring typically last for a short time. Temperatures in central and eastern China are forecast to rebound quickly, with average readings expected to be 1 to 3 C above normal in most parts of the country over the next 10 days.

Starting on Wednesday, several rounds of rainfall are expected to move through southern China, affecting areas such as Guizhou, Hunan province and Jiangxi province, the center said.