Trial by typhoon shows city's resilience

When Typhoon Dolphin hit Shanghai at the weekend, the megacity was confronted with multiple weather extremes and a major test of its resilience.

The 13th typhoon of the year, Dolphin made two landfalls in Zhejiang province on Sunday, bringing severe weather to China's eastern seaboard.

Shanghai and its 25 million residents were subjected to record rainfall, gale-force winds and tornadoes, testing the effectiveness and preparedness of the city's infrastructure and emergency services.

Dolphin's assault — coming as the world deals with climate-related volatility — has answered some questions about how megacities can withstand increasingly unpredictable weather.

For the first time since Typhoon Fitow in 2013, Shanghai authorities issued the highest-level red alert for rainstorms across central urban districts on Sunday. Gale-force winds above force 8 persisted for approximately 48 hours, while multiple districts reported small tornadoes.

Over a 72-hour period from 8 am on Saturday, precipitation at Xietu Road subdistrict in Xuhui district reached 498.9 millimeters, the highest cumulative rainfall recorded by Shanghai's automated weather stations this century.

From 8 am on Sunday, 24-hour rainfall of 316.1 mm was recorded at Xujiahui meteorological station. The amount was equivalent to two summer months of precipitation, shattering the station's single-day precipitation record in its 154 years of operations.

Of Shanghai's 45 representative hydrologic monitoring stations, 42 exceeded water warning levels, with 23 setting historical highs.

The full impact of Typhoon Dolphin is expected to be clear by Saturday, authorities said, when it is anticipated to have dissipated after hanging around for about eight days.