Arid Zone Research ›› 2025, Vol. 42 ›› Issue (10): 1791-1801.doi: 10.13866/j.azr.2025.10.04

• Weather and Climate • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Spatiotemporal evolution characteristics of windblown sand weather and its climatic driving mechanisms in the Tuha Area

BAI Songzhu1(), YAO Junqiang2, Mairaguli 3, LI Yanying4(), MA Xingwei4, DU Jiang3   

  1. 1. Hami Meteorological Bureau, Hami 839000, Xinjiang, China
    2. Institute of Desert Meteorology, China Meteorological Administration, Urumqi 830002, Xinjiang, China
    3. Turpan Meteorological Bureau, Turpan 838000, Xinjiang, China
    4. Wuwei Meteorological Bureau, Wuwei 733000, Gansu, China
  • Received:2025-04-02 Revised:2025-08-19 Online:2025-10-15 Published:2025-10-22
  • Contact: LI Yanying E-mail:bszxjhm@sina.com;lyyqxj@163.com

Abstract:

This study uses ground meteorological observation data from 11 national meteorological stations and 192 regional stations in the Tuha Area, spanning from 1974 to 2024, to analyze the spatiotemporal variations of sand-dust weather and its correlation with meteorological factors. The results reveal the following: (1) Floating dust is the most frequently occurring sand-dust weather event in the area, followed by blowing sand; sandstorms occur least frequently. The peak period for sand-dust weather is in spring. Blowing sand and sandstorms are more common in summer and the least in winter, whereas floating dust is more frequent in autumn than in summer. (2) The distribution of sand-dust weather days shows a pattern of higher occurrence in the west compared to the east, and more prevalence in basins than in mountainous areas. High-incidence areas for floating dust include Tuokexun and Gaochang District of Turpan City. Blowing sand and sandstorms are mainly concentrated around the Tuokexun-East Kan’er Station and Naomaohu Station, whereas mountainous regions such as Barkol and Yiwu in Hami City experience very few sand-dust weather events. In addition, significant differences exist in wind direction and speed associated with sand-dust weather across different regions. (3) Over the past 50 years, the total number of sand-dust weather days has shown an overall decreasing trend, with floating dust decreasing at the fastest rate of 7.1 days per decade. The 1970s recorded the highest sand-dust weather, whereas 2013 recorded the lowest. In the past decade, the total number of days with sand-dust, floating dust, and blowing sand has significantly increased. Abrupt changes in the annual counts of sand-dust, floating dust, and blowing sand occurred in 1991, 1995, and 1991, respectively, whereas the trend for sandstorm days did not exhibit a clear abrupt change. (4) The number of sand-dust days shows a significant positive correlation with both the number of strong wind days and average wind speed, a significant negative correlation with average temperature, and no clear correlation with precipitation or sunshine duration.

Key words: sand-dust weather, temporal and spatial evolution, climatic factors, Tuha Area