Fading El Nino continues to affect weather

The lingering effects of El Nino will continue to cause larger rainfall and the possibility of severe flooding in China's coastal regions, said Zhou Bing, chief engineer of National Climate Center, under the China Meteorological Administration, on Friday.

The provinces of Hubei, Hunan and Jiangxi may have 50 to 80 percent more rainfall than the same period in recent years, the national meteorological authority said.

After the strong El Nino, China may see the coming of La Nina, El Nino's opposite phenomenon. Together with global warming, rising sea levels may exacerbate the impact of flooding and storm surges, Zhou said.