Fierce rain delays over 100 flights in Beijing

By Wang Jingqiong (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-06-17 08:39

Extreme weather will lash most parts of the country today, after Beijing and Tianjin were plunged into darkness during extraordinary thunderstorms Tuesday.

Fierce rain delays over 100 flights in Beijing

The scene at the north second ring road in the capital's Chaoyang district at noon Tuesday. Beijing woke up to a fierce thunderstorm, which plunged the capital into darkness for most of the day. [Wang Ziyi]

Commuters at Beijing Capital International Airport were left frustrated when 100 flights were delayed and 10 were cancelled as heavy rain clouds blocked all sunlight at about 11 am Tuesday.

Streetlights were activated and motorists were forced to turn on car headlights amid the heavy rain.

Further rainfall is forecast for China's southwest, north, and some eastern regions today. Heavy rain is expected in Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, Liaoning and Yunnan province.

Meanwhile, thunderstorms and hail are forecast for Liaoning, Hebei, Qinghai and Gansu provinces, and Tianjin municipality. Strong winds are expected in Xinjiang Uygur and Inner Mongolia autonomous regions, according to a forecast by the National Meteorological Center (NMC).

The NMC said severe convective weather, which includes heavy rainfall in a short amount of time, thunderstorms, tornados and hail were hitting the country with unusual frequency.

The weather has prompted the bureau to warn farmers to speed up the reaping of wheat harvests.

During Tuesday's storm, the Beijing Meteorological Bureau recorded 538 thunderclaps between 10 am and 11 am. The storm later blackened skies above Tianjin and heavy rain was experienced in Hebei province.

Meanwhile, rain, strong winds and hail were reported in Sichuan, Yunnan, Guangdong and Hainan provinces.

Zhou Qingliao, director of the NMC severe weather center, said that the darkness that descended on Beijing and Tianjin was the result of storm clouds up to 10 kilometers thick blocking out the sun.

He said it was abnormal to see frequent severe convective weather in June and it was being caused by extraordinarily active cold air traveling south. There was recently three times the number of large-scale storm systems within 10 days, he added.

It follows the deaths of at least 14 people during severe storms in Anhui province on the weekend.

In addition to those who lost their lives, 121 people were injured when strong winds hit four counties in Anhui province. About 20 people were considered severely injured, local government reported.

Earlier this month, a storm system known as a squall line killed 22 people and caused an economic loss of 1 billion yuan ($146 million) in Shanxi, Henan, Shandong, Anhui and Jiangsu provinces.