What is a cloudburst and why is it so dangerous?
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South China Morning Post
14 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong set for hot weather of up to 33 degrees before thunderstorms return on Sunday
This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP's journalism by subscribing . New users who download our updated app get a seven-day free trial. Hong Kong is bracing for scorching heat before showers and thunderstorms return from Sunday amid a developing area of low pressure, according to the city's weather forecaster. The mercury may reach 33 degrees Celsius (91.4 degrees Fahrenheit) or higher on Friday and Saturday due to an anticyclone aloft affecting the coast of southern China over the next couple of days, before it starts to rain from Sunday, according to the nine-day weather forecast. The Hong Kong Observatory said on Thursday that the coming unstable weather would be brought by a low-pressure area located east of the Philippines, which was expected to shift over Luzon the next day, and then traverse the central to northern South China Sea. This system could intensify towards the southern areas of Hainan Island and its adjacent seas over the weekend, the forecaster added. 'Under the influence of the low-pressure system, there will be squally showers and thunderstorms over the northern part of the South China Sea and the coast of Guangdong during the weekend to early next week,' the Observatory said.
South China Morning Post
20 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Tseung Kwan O in Hong Kong recorded China's highest rainfall so far this year. Why?
Hong Kong's Tseung Kwan O has experienced the highest cumulative rainfall in China so far this year, with 2,397mm (94.37 inches) recorded in the first 7½ months, topping a chart from the national meteorological centre. But Leung Wing-mo, former assistant director of the Hong Kong Observatory, said on Thursday that while southern China was more prone to heavy rainfall under the influence of a southwestern monsoon, the exact pattern was highly arbitrary. 'There is no special reason. Heavy rainfall is purely random. This time it is Tseung Kwan O; next time, it will be elsewhere,' he said. 'Over the past three decades, various parts of Hong Kong have reported record-breaking rainfall.' On Sunday, the national weather forecaster released a chart on its social media account, highlighting the top 10 areas in China where the highest rainfalls were recorded between January and August 16 this year. According to the ranking, Tseung Kwan O was followed by Fogang in Guangdong province with 2,172mm and Yingde with 2,051mm.
South China Morning Post
a day ago
- South China Morning Post
Beijing floods a deadly reminder to prepare for climate change's worst
When I first arrived in Beijing in the summer of 2012, I was greeted with what local authorities called 'a historically rare storm'. Trains were late, traffic was congested, basements were flooded and a man driving an SUV drowned in logged water under the Guangqumen Bridge. A total of 79 people died and the government vowed to make changes. Then Beijing mayor Guo Jinlong said the disaster had exposed many issues in Beijing's urban planning, infrastructure and emergency management, stressing the need to ensure such a disaster would never occur again. The city's residents were caught off guard. People's homes in the basements of blocks of flats were flooded, and victims had to camp out on the pavement for days. My colleagues and I waded through ankle-deep mud to interview villagers who had not seen this coming. Beijing is traditionally dry in the summer, they told us. Shortly after the driver drowned at Guangqumen, I noticed online shops selling safety hammers for cars – previously, people didn't realise you couldn't open car doors when you drove into deep water. Beijing's sewage system wasn't designed to take on heavy rain , either. During my years there, whenever it rained, water quickly accumulated on the streets, sometimes ankle-deep. Fast forward to last month when Beijing was once again hit with an extreme storm , leading to 44 deaths and nine people missing, 31 of whom were at an elderly care home in the suburbs. This round of storms touched other northern provinces as well – 10 campers in Inner Mongolia were killed in sudden flooding, while in Shanxi province a bus carrying 14 pepper pickers went missing.
