China maintains blue alert for sandstorms

BEIJING -- China's national observatory on Tuesday morning continued to issue a blue alert for sandstorms in multiple regions in the next 24 hours.

Affected by cold fronts and heavy winds, floating sand and dust will sweep across areas from Northwest China's Xinjiang and Ningxia to Hebei and Beijing in the north, as well as the central provinces of Henan and Hubei, according to the National Meteorological Center.

Some places in Inner Mongolia are likely to be hit by heavy sandstorms.

China has a four-tier color-coded weather warning system for sandstorms with red representing the most severe scenario, followed by orange, yellow, and blue.