People brave the first storm of the plum rain season yesterday. Forecasters said locals should prepare for sweltering weather with intermittent rains.(Dong Jun)
The first thunderstorm of the plum rain season rolled into Shanghai yesterday with parts of the city flooded that triggered an orange rainstorm alert.
Scattered rains are expected in the city early today but the stormy weather is expected to subside later in the day, weather forecasters said.
Songjiang and Minhang districts and the Pudong New Area saw torrential downpour on Sunday night and yesterday morning. Some of the streets, residential communities and underpasses in Songjiang District were flooded.
The Shanghai Meteorological Bureau issued a yellow alert for lightning at 2am yesterday, followed by a yellow rain storm alert 20 minutes later. The storm alert was soon upgraded to an orange one — the second highest in a four-level color system — at 3:50am. The alert was downgraded to yellow again at 11am after the rain weakened.
The Shanghai Flood Control Headquarters also issued a blue alert for flooding at 2:30am and upgraded it to yellow at 4am.
In Songjiang District, nearly half of its observation points recorded a rainfall of more than 100 millimeters by noon. By 4pm, Songjiang District received the heaviest rain among all the districts with a reading of 113 millimeters.
Songjiang residents reported flooding in several places in the morning, including Dongmen Tunnel, Rongle Road E., Songjiang Industrial Park and a residential community on Xinsongjiang Road.
Local flood control officials said flooding at the tunnel and Rongle Road E. had been cleared by noon.
The most serious flooding occurred at Lianyang Road underpass where the water level reached 2 meters. Normal traffic resumed after 8:30am.
Seven bus routes in Songjiang District had to make a detour to avoid rainwater.
Another round of heavy rains swept the city later in the afternoon. At 6:53pm, the weather bureau and flood control offices lifted the two alerts.
The skies will be overcast today and tomorrow but thundershowers are expected.
The next three days — from Thursday to Saturday — will see similar weather pattern and temperatures will range from 24 to 33 degrees Celsius.
Tuesday also marked the solar term Xiazhi, or summer solstice, which indicates the arrival of the plum rain season.
