Widespread Heavy Rainfall Across China Expected to Last Until at Least May 23

(CNA, Taipei, May 20) Many parts of China have recently experienced heavy rainfall. China's Central Meteorological Observatory analyzed that this round of downpours is due to the superposition of three weather systems, forming a circulation pattern similar to the plum rain season. Weather monitoring predicts a new round of widespread rainfall in the central and eastern regions from the 21st to the 23rd. Moderate to heavy rain is expected in the area from the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River to northern South China, with some local areas experiencing torrential or even extreme downpours. A Xinhua News Agency report on the 19th stated that according to the Central Meteorological Observatory's monitoring, from 8 a.m. on the 15th to 8 a.m. on the 19th, heavy rainfall accumulating to 300 mm occurred in multiple locations including Hubei, Hunan, Guizhou, Guangxi, and Hainan. The cumulative precipitation in Fangchenggang, Guangxi reached 825 mm, with a maximum hourly rainfall of 140.4 mm. Several national meteorological stations in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and Hubei broke their historical single-day rainfall records for May. The Central Meteorological Observatory expects that from the 19th to the 21st, the rain belt will continue to press south and move east, mainly affecting the Jiangnan, South China, and southern Guizhou regions. Southern Guizhou, south-central Hunan, Jiangxi, Guangxi, and Guangdong will remain the primary areas affected by the heavy rain. Chen Boyu, chief forecaster at the Central Meteorological Observatory, stated that this round of storms is a result of three overlapping weather systems, creating a plum rain-like circulation. On one hand, the abnormally northern position of the subtropical high in the South China Sea continuously transports abundant warm and moist air from the Indochina Peninsula and the South China Sea to the southern regions. On the other hand, a Mongolian cyclone is driving cold air from the north to meet the warm and moist airflow over the south. Additionally, the eastward movement of a plateau trough has intensified atmospheric instability. Chen Boyu said the superposition of these three systems has resulted in a stable rain belt, long duration, and locally intense, persistent torrential weather. Continuous heavy rains in China have led to ongoing disasters. In Hunan, at least 5 people have died and 11 are missing; in Guizhou, at least 4 have died and 5 are missing. According to a People's Daily Online report, weather monitoring forecasts a new round of widespread rainfall in the central and eastern regions from the 21st to the 23rd. Light to moderate rain, with localized heavy rain, is expected in the eastern part of the Northwest region, North China, the Huang-Huai region, and Northeast China. The southern Jianghan region, the Jianghuai region, Jiangnan, and northern South China will see moderate to heavy rain, with localized torrential or extreme downpours, accompanied by severe convective weather such as thunderstorms, gales, and short-duration heavy precipitation.