The Mother of All Sandstorms

Beijing is no stranger to sandstorms, but even the monster storm we endured in late March pales in comparison to the one that hit Xinjiang, Qinghai, Gansu and Mongolia over the weekend.

According to the Global Times, the storm originated in east Xinjiang. Yesterday the paper reported: “Carried by strong winds reportedly reaching more than 28 meters per second (100 kilometers per hour), dust and sand took their toll on almost 7 million people in the north and northwest, including the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Inner Mongolia autonomous region, and Qinghai and Gansu provinces. A total of 900,000 hectares of crops were reportedly threatened. A strong gale, which lasted 15 hours, hit Turpan of Xinjiang starting Friday, leaving three people dead and one missing in a consequent fire and building collapses. The wind was the strongest ever recorded in the city, weather experts said.”

The video below, reportedly shot in Minqin County, central Gansu, shows just how severe the storm was.