Rainfalls expected in SW China

BEIJING -- China's national observatory on Sunday forecast rainfalls in southwestern areas for the next three days.

While the rain will mainly be light to medium, parts of Yunnan, Sichuan, Guizhou, and Tibet will see much heavier precipitation with downpours and storms on the cards, the National Meteorological Center (NMC) said in a statement.

The NMC warned of possible geological disasters triggered by strong rainfall in Tibet and Yunnan in the next 24 hours.

Hainan, China's southernmost province, is also expecting torrential rain from Sunday night to Monday.

Other areas to be hit by rain include Inner Mongolia and northeastern provinces as a rain belt moving eastward will gradually sweep across most of the country's northern regions till Wednesday.