BEIJING – The Chinese capital was covered on Saturday as unusual typhoon-like girls cleaned up northern areas, forced the closure of historic sites, disrupted travel while obstructing snowfall and hailstone showers in some areas.
The windows shook, trees hit sidewalks and cars, shaking by gusts of winds driven by cold vortices from adjacent Mongolia, causing temperatures to skyrocket.
The winds that began Friday are expected to continue over the weekend, packing gusts of winds up to 150 kph (90 mph), state-run Xinhua Newsletter said. They brought slow snowfall in Southern China within Mongolia.
Beijing issued its second-highest Gale Alert this weekend, warning 22 million residents for the first time in a decade to avoid nonessential travel as winds could break records from 1951-April.
By 2pm (0600 GMT), flights 693 had been cancelled at two international airports in Beijing, two international airports in Beijing, 693 had been cancelled in Beijing, and two flights in Beijing.
Wind controls social media chats, with many people expressing concerns about food delivery workers who endure the conditions.
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“In weather like this, you can choose not to order delivery, which is too difficult for them,” a Weibo user wrote.
The sandstorm has been furious at the spread from Inner Mongolia to the old river river region, and has organized road trips in eight provinces, Xinhua and the provincial broadcaster CCTV said.
The sandstorm was expected to affect Shanghai from Saturday afternoon until Sunday morning.
