A special weather team has been sent to north China's sandstorms-prone regions to strength the work of monitoring the storms' origins and development, China's meteorological administration said today.

The team arrived in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on Friday, Sun Jian, a spokesperson for the administration said during a Beijing press conference.

Team members will track sandstorms and report to the administration the most up-to-date information about them, Sun said.

Closer monitoring may bring quicker responses to any disasters and lead to the broadcasting of more accurate warnings.

Meanwhile, the team will research the relationship between the sandstorms and the local climate.

Sandstorms hit north China over the weekend, blanketing many cities in dust, including the capital Beijing.

The worst-affected regions were western Inner Mongolia and north Ningxia and western Gansu provinces where sandstorms brought visibility down to less than 1,000 meters.

The administration said the sandstorms will continue in central and western Inner Mongolia, western Gansu and northern Ningxia until tomorrow. No casualties have been reported.

Eleven to 15 major sandstorms are forecast in north and northwest China this spring.

China had 18 sandstorms in 2006, a record-high since 2000. Thirteen provinces and municipalities were wrapped in dust last spring, a peak period of sandstorms in northern China.

(Shanghai Daily April 2, 2007)