According to Chinese weather officials, the thick and dense sandstorms will have a severe impact on visibility in Capital Beijing and other provinces of China.
From Wednesday morning to Thursday morning, the Central Meteorological Observatory issued yellow warning signs for Shaanxi and Shanxi provinces.
Weather forecasters warned that visibility will be poor in many areas, causing drivers to slow down. Forecasters said that sandstorms would gradually move south, then slow down.
Dust filled the air around Beijing’s central business district as the Chinese capital suffered low visibility.
Mark Schiefelbein / AP
China has a four-tiered, color-coded weather warning system. Red is the most severe warning followed by orange, yellow, and blue.
Beijing was also given a yellow warning about sandstorms. In the past few days, Beijing has been experiencing sand storms that have caused pollution levels to dramatically increase.
Social media photos showed people riding bikes through the city in swirls of dust. One photo featured a bike seat that was covered in sand.
According to the Beijing Ecological Environment Monitoring Center, Wednesday’s air quality index was 500 in Beijing. This brings the pollution level up to 6. It is considered extremely hazardous for human health.
Because of its close proximity to the Gobi desert and deforestation in northern China, the city is subject to regular sandstorms in March and April.
