Violent sandstorms swept over most areas of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Gansu Province over the weekend, and weather forecasters said the storms may hit again this week because of an approaching cold front.

Moderate to heavy snow also fell on Gansu Province and the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region from late Sunday to early yesterday morning.

Visibility in more than 95 percent of Inner Mongolia's cities and some parts of Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces fell below 50 meters during the sandstorm, which meteorologists said were the most serious this year, Xinhua reported yesterday.

Wind speeds were reportedly between 17 and 30 meters per second, and the skies were darkened by the blowing sand.

The storms affected the entire north China, including Beijing.

Gansu was hard hit by the sandstorms, with visibility in cities like Wuwei, Jiuquan and Jinzhou falling to less than 100 meters.

A cold air mass from the north was the main cause of the sandstorms.

Meanwhile, heavy snow was reported in Dunhong, Jingyuan, Dongxiang, Huachi and other places in Gansu Province, and the provincial capital Lanzhou recorded a moderate snow of 4.6 millimeters.

The snow has produced a sharp drop in temperature, with most parts of Gansu reporting temperatures of minus 14 degrees Celsius.

Xi'an, the capital of Shaanxi Province, was pelted by muddy rain on Sunday and yesterday, dotting cars and people in the tourist mecca with brown sludge.

Liang Shengjun, a weatherman with the Shaanxi Provincial Meteorological Station, said the muddy rain developed as drizzle mixed with drifting dust from the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

The temperature dropped by 10 degrees in Xi'an because of the cold current, Liang said.

Meanwhile, Shijiazhuang, capital of Hebei Province, was shrouded in darkness for about 10 minutes around mid-day yesterday when a thick black cloud passed over the area.

The darkness, mixed with drizzling rain, fell over the city at 11:30 a.m. and visibility on roads was limited.

Many shops and street vendors closed for the day and street lights were lit.

Hu Xin, head of the Hebei Provincial Meteorological Station, blamed the unusual phenomenon on a passing dark cloud that blocked the sunlight until about 11:40 a.m.

In Ningxia, 10 millimeters of snow fell for 6 hours in some areas of Yinchuan, the region's capital city.

(Eastday.com.cn 04/10/2001)