Fierce gales sweep northern China, disrupting traffic, public services

A sweeping cold front has brought fierce winds across northern China since Friday evening, prompting widespread weather warnings, transport suspensions and emergency response measures.

The National Meteorological Center (NMC) on Saturday renewed an orange alert for strong gales that are expected to sweep the country's northern and coastal regions over the weekend, warning that winds of up to force 13 (37.0-41.4 meters per second) on the national wind scale will hit parts of Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Hebei and Beijing from 8 am Saturday to 8 am Sunday.

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

From 5 pm Friday to noon on Saturday, 109 weather stations in Beijing recorded gusts above force 10 (24.5-28.4 meters per second), and 296 stations registered winds at or above force 9 (20.8-24.4 meters per second).

Gusts exceeding force 10 were recorded in 13 districts of the national capital, including Haidian, Chaoyang and Fengtai, according to municipal meteorological authorities.

At 8pm Saturday, the Beijing Meteorological Observatory issued a regional orange alert for high winds.

Forecasts for 8pm Saturday to 8pm Sunday predict winds ranging between force 9 and force 11 (28.5-32.6 meters per second) in most areas in the districts of Yanqing, Huairou, Changping, Mentougou and Fangshan, and parts of the districts of Haidian, Shijingshan, Fengtai and Tongzhou, with mountainous areas potentially experiencing gusts above force 12 (32.7-36.9 meters per second).

The gale alert has been lowered to yellow in other districts of Beijing.

To ensure public safety, Beijing has temporarily shut 15 overground railway sections, affecting a total of 106 stations and over 200 kilometers of tracks, including Beijing Subway Capital Airport Express tracks.

The Beijing-Tianjin intercity high-speed trains, and bullet trains between Beijing and major cities such as Shanghai, Guangzhou and Harbin, as well as some non-high-speed passenger trains running through mountainous areas, will temporarily suspend service on Sunday, given the scope of the gale winds, the China Railway Beijing Group said on Saturday.

In Beijing, two airports have canceled hundreds of flights scheduled for Saturday, and a humanoid-robot half marathon that was set to take place on Sunday has been postponed to April 19.

Numerous parks and museums have been closed, including the Summer Palace, the Temple of Heaven and Beihai Park, and fueling operations at gas stations and oil depots have been suspended. A number of museums, including the National Museum of China, announced on Saturday evening that they would remain closed on Sunday.

As of 10am Saturday, a total of 288 trees were toppled across the city due to the strong winds, damaging 19 vehicles, according to Beijing's emergency management authorities. There have been no reports of damage to ancient trees.

According to the local administration of financial regulation, as of 11am Saturday, the property insurance institutions in Beijing had handled 101 insurance claims involving gales, with an estimated loss worth over 1.6 million yuan (US$221,954).

No injuries or fatalities related to the extreme winds have been reported in Beijing.

In the neighboring Tianjin Municipality, peak gusts of 43.2 meters per second were recorded in Jizhou District's Panshan area — the strongest winds since records began in 1951.

In the city's urban center, record-high winds reached 25.3 meters per second, and authorities have warned that the extreme conditions are expected to persist through Monday.

Farther northeast, in Liaoning Province's Dalian, local authorities have issued yellow alerts for strong winds that will affect both land and sea areas.

In northern Shanxi Province, the State Grid branch has deployed over 3,000 personnel to inspect and reinforce electrical facilities. Emergency repair teams and mobile generators were positioned across the province in advance to ensure rapid power restoration in the event of outages.

In the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, strong winds have disrupted rail, road and air traffic. Beijing-bound high-speed rail services departing from the region's central and western areas have been temporarily suspended, and airports in cities like Hohhot, Xilinhot and Hulunbuir have canceled dozens of flights due to adverse weather conditions.

Experts say that as the strong cold air hits northern China, most parts of Inner Mongolia have seen strong winds. Many places in the east have experienced heavy rain and snow, while blizzards swept across some areas, with the temperature dropping by 10 to 20 degrees Celsius.

The regional meteorological authorities forecast on Saturday that rain and snow will continue in eastern Inner Mongolia over the next two days.

Meanwhile, in central China's Henan Province, extreme winds have triggered a Level-III emergency response and prompted the issuance of over 100 meteorological warnings. Multiple tourist attractions, including the Zhengzhou Fantawild Resort, have been temporarily closed as a precautionary measure.