High winds roared through Beijing Sunday, raining down dust and tree leaves that blurred the vision of early risers and ending a week of warm, misty weather.

Tourists with face masks walk on the Tian'anmen Square in a clear windy day in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 21, 2010. Beijing confronted a cold wave on Sunday with temperature predicted to drop to minus three degrees celsius at night. [Xinhua]

Beijing's weather bureau said the winds swept at an average of 40 km per hour, but occasional gales reached 60 km per hour.

Despite citizens' complaints of dirt in the air, engineers of the bureau said they observed floating dust only in parts of Chaoyang District, east of the city proper.

As no dust was coming from traditional sources in the neighboring Hebei Province and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, the bureau said the winds would not pack a much-feared sandstorm to the capital city.

The winds brought down Sunday's high temperature to 9 degrees Celsius, down 4 degrees from Saturday, but turned Beijing's misty sky blue again by Sunday afternoon.

Last week, Beijing was hit by haze for three days. The weather was also warmer than normal.

The weather bureau forecast Sunday's low temperature would drop to minus 3 degrees Celsius, down at least 5 degrees from the previous night.

The bureau has warned of more winds and chilling factors during the week. Yet it has forecast no rain or storm due to inadequate moisture.

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