Sandstorm to affect Shanghai air quality, Thursday and Friday

Shanghai is bracing for a sandstorm coming from the north between Thursday night and Friday morning, the city's environment and weather authorities said on Thursday.

The air quality index is predicted to be moderate or above pollution level in a short time, the authorities warned.

From Friday afternoon, the polluted air will be moving away from Shanghai, and the concentration of the main pollutants, particles with diameters that are generally 10 micrometers and smaller, will gradually decrease, bringing air quality index back to a "good" level.

The sandstorm comes from western Mongolia and central and western Inner Mongolia. It will mainly affect areas in Jiangsu, Anhui, Shandong and Henan provinces.

The highest hourly concentration of PM10 occurred in Xuzhou of neighboring Jiangsu Province, at 1,540 micrograms per cubic meter on Thursday.

The temperature will be between 9 and 11 degrees Celsius with drizzles in some areas on Friday.

Sunshine is expected to return to the city on Sunday with mercury between 7 and 15 degrees.

Ti Gong