Tuesday winds set to clean up city's air

Easterly winds and rainy weather is likely to clean the city's air from Tuesday with the rain, mainly drizzle, lasting into next week, according to forecasters.

Monday was expected to be the last dry day before another round of rainy days. Due to the northwesterly winds which blow in pollutants from northern China, smoggy conditions worsened with a rise on PM2.5 concentration.

At 5pm, the air quality index reached 217 with the concentration of PM2.5 particles increasing to 167 micrograms per cubic meter, nearly seven times the guideline of 25 set by the World Health Organization. The pollution level upgraded to “heavily polluted.”

Tuesday will kick off with a cold morning and temperatures of 4 degrees Celsius in downtown areas and zero to 1 degree in the outskirts. The temperature will rise to 12 degrees during the day.

The winds will turn southeasterly to blow the pollution away. Skies will be cloudy with a chance of some sunshine. However, drizzly weather will arrive in the evening and bring another rainy period which could last for at least nine days.

Wednesday will be a little milder with a high of 13 and a low of 10. Temperatures will range from 7 to 11 degrees from Thursday to Wednesday next week.

Monday was Dahan, or great cold, the last solar term in the Chinese lunar calendar. After Dahan, temperatures will start to rise with the coming of spring.