It is going to be a wet week in the city but Shanghai's air quality is expected to improve today, according to forecasters.
The city has been shrouded in heavy smog since Saturday with the air quality index soaring above 200 at one point.
The top pollutant was PM2.5 and its density hit 184 micrograms per cubic meter at noon yesterday, or more than seven times the acceptable World Health Organization's figure of 25 micrograms.
A cold front was blamed for bringing pollutants from north China into the city and the poor dispersing conditions worsened due to high pressure, the Shanghai Environmental Protection Bureau said yesterday.
Heavy pollution was reported in north China and some areas of east China since Friday.
"It is getting polluted too often these days. It gave me a sore throat today," a local pedestrian said yesterday.
The pollution is being blamed on coal burning in the northern part of China.
"The pollutants came from northern China, where people often burn coal in the cold season," said Duan Yusen, a chief forecaster at the Shanghai Environmental Monitoring Center.
The pollution gradually improved in the afternoon, but the city's air quality was still slightly polluted at 4pm.
The AQI finally fell to 89, or good, by 5pm yesterday.
Though the weekend pollution level was not high enough for authorities to trigger the city's emergency measures, the government still ordered local enterprises and factories to reduce their emission level.
Some government departments carried out surprise checks to find out how the local companies were carrying out the orders.
The companies which kept on emitting excessive pollutants were handed out punishments.
The Shanghai Environmental Protection Bureau said it would remain on high alert for the rest of the year as winter is traditionally a peak time for air pollution.
The bureau has checked a number of key areas including the Wujing industrial zone and Gaoqiao petrochemical industrial zone and is investigating a petrochemical factory in Wujing after it found that the plant had failed to install waste gas recycling system on heavy oil loading and unloading facilities.
Meanwhile, the Shanghai Environmental Monitoring Center said the air quality should be good this morning, with good to slight pollution in the afternoon.
The high pressure moved into the sea and an easterly wind also created better dispersing conditions.
But the rains will linger until Thursday because of the active movement of southwest warm and wet air, the Shanghai Meteorological Bureau forecasted.
Later this week, it will turn overcast to cloudy but it will be colder due to a cold front, the weather bureau said.
The mercury will range between 15 and 20 degrees Celsius today with some wind, while tomorrow will be overcast with some showers and a high of 18 degrees.
Conditions will be similar, though slightly cooler, through the rest of the working week, the weathermen said.
