'Stay indoors if you can'

Duan Li, chief weather forecaster with the Beijing Meteorological Bureau, speaks about the weather and atmospheric conditions people can expect during the next few days after suggesting yesterday that residents stay indoors to avoid serious air pollution.

METRO: Will the capital see another sandstorm during the next few days?

Duan: Strictly speaking, the weather we saw on Monday should be described as a dust storm instead of a sandstorm. The dust was blown around by strong winds and visibility ranged from one to 10 kilometers. The word "sandstorm" is used when visibility falls to less than one kilometer. According to our analysis, visibility averaged around two to three kilometers. It's hard to forecast if Beijing will be shrouded in dust again in the next few days but we are monitoring to see if a new cyclone will come this way from Mongolia.