Yellow sand blown from deserts in China caused much damage to Beijing as it passed through and onto the middle region of the Korean Peninsula to record the worst meteorological phenomenon due to the sand so far this year on Friday. The Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) revealed a vast amount of sand has moved towards Korea carried by westerly air currents. Visibility was down to 1.8km in downtown Seoul Friday, one tenth that of a clear day, and the air was filled with a dark yellow haze throughout the day. To make matters worse, a strong west wind of 7.5m per second blew in the capital and many citizens used handkerchiefs or masks to cover their faces.
Meanwhile, the KMA radar observatory on Kwan-ak Mountain measured 177.2
of dust at 11:00am, 17 times more dirt in the air than the usual 0-10. This dust density was the worst this year, the previous being 129.4 on March 23. Based upon analyses of meteorological satellite images, the KMA forcasts the yellow sand phenomenon will last till Saturday morning. A yellow haze mixed with a gust of wind had hit Beijing Thursday result in the worst yellow sand damage within the last decade, preventing aircraft landing and taking off.