Beijing Meteorological Bureau issued an important weather alert on the evening of April 9th, stating that from the afternoon of the 11th to the 13th, Beijing will experience extreme windy weather. The daytime of the 12th will be the period with the strongest winds, with gusts in some mountainous areas reaching over 13 on the Beaufort scale.
On April 10th, the Beijing Meteorological Observatory initiated an orange alert for strong winds, marking the first city-wide orange alert for strong winds in nearly a decade.
According to the strong wind warning, at 17:00 on April 11th, Yanqing, Changping, Mentougou, and Fangshan will be the first areas to experience strong winds, affecting the urban areas around 20:00, with gusts gradually increasing to 8-9 levels at night. From 6:00 to 22:00 on April 12th is expected to be the period with the strongest winds, with an average wind force of 6 across the city, gusts of 9-11 in the plain areas, and some areas in Yanqing, Changping, Mentougou, Fangshan, Huairou, Pinggu, Miyun, etc. experiencing gusts of 11-13, while gusts in some mountainous areas can exceed 13.
In China, wind force levels are divided into 18 grades, with level 8 being called “strong wind”, with wind speeds ranging from 17.2 to 20.7 meters per second, capable of breaking tree branches and causing significant resistance when walking forward; level 9, known as “gale”, with wind speeds from 20.8 to 24.4 meters per second, can cause some damage to buildings; level 10 is “storm”, with wind speeds from 24.5 to 28.4 meters per second, capable of uprooting trees and blowing down houses.
Wind speeds above level 11 are rare on land, with level 11 being called “violent storm” with speeds from 28.5 to 32.6 meters per second; level 12 is “hurricane”, with speeds from 32.7 to 36.9 meters per second. Generally, when wind force exceeds level 12, it means “extremely destructive” for objects on the ground.
At the same time, this strong wind event will also bring a sharp drop in temperatures. The highest temperature on the 12th is expected to drop to 14°C, with a temperature drop of 13°C within 24 hours. During the period of strong winds from the evening of the 11th to the 12th, there may also be sand and dust storms.
Beijing Municipal Emergency Management Office has issued public protection guidelines for the orange alert for strong winds, during which all outdoor construction and recreational activities in Beijing will be suspended.