Rainfall declared 'historically extreme'

The National Meteorological Center has declared the recent heavy rainfall in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region from Saturday to Tuesday "a historically extreme event".

The intensity of the rainfall surpassed previous significant rainstorms in the region, including those in 1996, 2012 and 2016.

During the four days, rainfall pummeled Beijing for 83 hours, the center said.

Over three days, 26 national weather monitoring stations reported accumulated rainfall exceeding historical records.

The extreme heavy rainfall in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region can be attributed to typhoons and the mountainous landscape in the region, said Zhang Hengde, deputy director of the center.

An abundant supply of water vapor in the atmosphere was brought by the remnants of Typhoon Doksuri and combined with the southeastern airflow of a subtropical high and moisture transported from distant Typhoon Khanun, said Zhang.

"The vapor had been converging toward the North China Plain. Plus, the presence of mountain ranges such as the Taihang and Yanshan mountains caused an uplifting motion, forcing the water vapor to condense and intensifying the rain," he said.

According to meteorological statistics, the accumulated rainfall during this period was double or even triple the historical average for the same period.

The greatest impact was seen in Beijing, Tianjin, and central parts of Hebei.

The cumulative rainfall in Hebei province's Liangjiazhuang village in Xingtai surpassed 1,003 millimeters within two days, which is more than twice the amount of precipitation the city typically receives in a whole year.

Similarly, some parts of Beijing recorded more than 700 mm of accumulated rainfall, far exceeding the previous records.

Such extreme heavy rainfall can lead to urban flooding and waterlogged areas, greatly affecting transportation, urban operations, agricultural production and people's daily lives, the center said.

Typhoon Khanun, which is strong and located in the southeastern part of the East China Sea, will turn northeast away from the coast of southern Zhejiang from Thursday through Friday.

It is forecast to weaken as it moves toward southeastern Japan.

Over the next 10 days, another typhoon is expected in the northwest Pacific and the South China Sea, but it is unlikely to affect China, the center said.