Giant Yellow Dust Storm Covering Chinese Sky Hits Korea... "Impact from Afternoon of 12th"

Videos Showing Roads Covered by Yellow Dust Posted on Social Media

The first yellow dust of the year has begun, with sandstorms sweeping through northern China. Videos posted by local netizens show towering walls of sand seemingly surrounding the roads. This sandstorm is expected to start affecting the Korean Peninsula in earnest from the afternoon of the 12th.

On the 11th (local time), several videos related to yellow dust were posted on Chinese social media platforms such as Douyin. The videos were filmed in areas near deserts in China, including the central-western part of Inner Mongolia and the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The footage captures scenes of sand walls covering roads, almost blocking out the sky. Roads engulfed by the sandstorm quickly turned hazy, with cars driving through the thick dust.

Yellow dust video uploaded on China's 'Douyin' and others. Screenshot from Chinese SNS

A local netizen who filmed the video explained, "This sandstorm occurred on the 11th in some parts of Inner Mongolia," adding, "Usually, such sandstorms disappear within about ten minutes, but this one has not yet dissipated." Netizens who saw the video expressed concern, commenting, "It's all sand," "I've never seen anything like this before," "You can't move forward," and "This yellow dust seems serious."

Meanwhile, the China Central Meteorological Observatory issued a yellow dust storm warning starting from 8 a.m. that day. In some areas, visibility dropped below 50 meters due to the sandstorm, leading to traffic restrictions on highways and other roads. Beijing, the capital of China and close to the yellow dust-affected areas, was placed under a Level 1 yellow dust warning. The meteorological agency forecasted that these weather conditions could persist for the next two to three days.

This yellow dust is also expected to affect the Korean Peninsula starting from the 12th. The Korea Meteorological Administration forecasted that "yellow dust originating from the Gobi Desert and the Inner Mongolian Plateau will impact the West Sea Five Islands and the western coast of Gyeonggi Province from the afternoon," and that "it will spread nationwide overnight." On this day, fine dust levels are expected to be generally "bad" in western regions including Seoul, Incheon, Gyeonggi, the southern regions, and Chungnam.