Dusty weather will sweep north China four more times in the next ten days after the Chinese capital was just hit Monday by the strongest sand storm so far this year.

The Central Meteorological Station told Xinhua Monday that dusty weather is going to hit north China from March 30 to 31, from April 2 to 3 and around April 8.

Dust will linger over the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, the northern part of Hebei Province, three provinces in northeast China and Beijing and Tianjin municipalities from Tuesday to Wednesday and some regions will see sand storms.

Meanwhile, the southern part of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the western and central part of northwest China's Gansu Province and Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region will also be caught by dusty weather.

Beijing was struck Monday by the strongest dusty and windy weather so far this year while strong sand storms reduced the visibility to less than 300 meters in Inner Mongolia and north China's Shanxi Province.

The dusty weather in north China Monday was the ninth this spring but the strongest was the one that led to sand storms in the southern part of Xinjiang, the northwest part of Qinghai Province and the western part of Gansu in west China as well as Inner Mongolia from March 26 to 28.

Drought in north China has led to frequent dusty weather and sand storms this spring, said Yao Xuexiang, vice director of the Central Meteorological Station.

The frequency of dusty weather has remained similar with last spring and less than in 2001.

(Xinhua News Agency March 30, 2004)