Fine dust expected to reach 'bad' levels

SEOUL, Oct. 22 (Yonhap) -- Fine dust concentrations are expected to rise to "bad" levels on Thursday due to an inflow of fine dust and yellow dust from China and elsewhere, authorities said.

According to the Air Quality Forecasting Center, which is affiliated with the Ministry of Environment, the fine dust reading in the capital area and South Chungcheong Province will likely be "bad" in the morning, followed by Gangwon Province, Daejeon, Sejong, North Chungcheong Province, South and North Jeolla Provinces and Jeju Island in the afternoon and South and North Gyeongsang Provinces at night.

Outside of those time frames, the fine dust levels are expected to be "average," the center said. The four levels are "good," "average," "bad" and "very bad."

"Most areas will see high concentrations of fine dust as fine dust coming in from overseas and yellow dust originating from Tuesday will gradually move southeast," the center explained.

Yellow dust, which began blowing from the Gobi Desert and the highlands of China's Inner Mongolia on Tuesday, reached South Korea's western island of Baengnyeong around 9 p.m. Wednesday and the country's central region by early Thursday, according to the weather authorities.

Fine dust levels are announced based on readings of PM 10 and PM 2.5, whichever is higher. PM 10 is a reading of fine dust particles smaller than 10 micrometers in diameter, while PM 2.5 is a reading of particles smaller than 2.5 micrometers in diameter.

hague@yna.co.kr
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