High winds to clear out poor air quality

Shanghainese woke up Thursday to a smoggy morning and moderately polluted air, but the weather forecasters have predicted today would be reasonably better off with high winds cleaning up the pollutants in the air.

Visibility, however, will likely remain low in the morning.

"It will be windy tomorrow, which will make the air quality better," said Zhu Jiehua, chief a service officer of the Shanghai Meteorological Bureau. "But low visibility is possible in the morning because of high humidity."

The average PM2.5 density Thursday remained above 106 micrograms per cubic meter, while the national limit is 75.

Shanghai's Air Quality Index touched 198 at 7am Thursday and remained above 130 till midnight. Although the polluted air eased in the afternoon due to an easterly gust, light smog still hung over the city.

Warmer temperatures were back Thursday with a high of 18.1 degrees and a low of 10.9 degrees. Today's high is expected to be the same and will edge up to 19 degrees tomorrow — the highest for the week. But a cold chill on Sunday will push the mercury down to 14 degrees on Monday.

It will be partly cloudy today and tomorrow, while it will be overcast with light drizzles on Sunday, the bureau said.