A special weather team has been sent to north China's
sandstorms-prone regions to strength the work of monitoring the
storms' origins and development, China's meteorological
administration said on Tuesday.
The team arrived in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on
Friday, Sun Jian, a spokesperson for the administration said during
a Beijing press conference.
Team members will track sandstorms and report to the
administration the most up-to-date information about them, Sun
said.
Closer monitoring may bring quicker responses to any disasters
and lead to the broadcasting of more accurate warnings.
Meanwhile, the team will research the relationship between the
sandstorms and the local climate.
Sandstorms hit north China over the weekend, blanketing many
cities in dust, including the capital Beijing.
The worst-affected regions were western Inner Mongolia and north
Ningxia and western Gansu provinces where sandstorms brought
visibility down to less than 1,000 meters.
The administration said the sandstorms will continue in central
and western Inner Mongolia, western Gansu and northern Ningxia
until tomorrow. No casualties have been reported.
Eleven to 15 major sandstorms are forecast in north and
northwest China this spring.
China had 18 sandstorms in 2006, a record-high since 2000.
Thirteen provinces and municipalities were wrapped in dust last
spring, a peak period of sandstorms in northern China.
(Shanghai Daily?April 3, 2007)
