BEIJING — China's national observatory on March 27 issued a yellow alert for sandstorms in the northern part of the country.

From March 27 to 8 am on March 28, floating sand and dust are expected to sweep parts of Xinjiang, Qinghai, Inner Mongolia, Gansu, Ningxia, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shandong, Liaoning, and Jilin, the National Meteorological Center forecast.

Some regions in Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Hebei, Beijing, Tianjin, and Liaoning will be hit by sandstorms, the center said.

It has advised the public to take precautions against the heavy winds and sandstorms, and suggested that drivers prepare for poor visibility.

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

Meteorological authorities in Beijing forecast on March 27 that strong sandstorms will sweep through the Chinese capital starting from the morning of March 28 and last for more than 12 hours, reducing the city's minimum visibility to around 1,000 meters.

The intensity of the sandstorm on March 28 is, however, expected to be lower than the heavy storm that hit Beijing on March 15 and brought the city's minimum visibility below 800 meters, said Zhang Linna, a forecaster with the Beijing municipal meteorological station.

The new round of sandstorms is expected to gradually weaken from the night of March 28, Zhang added.