Heat is on as storms, gales, hail forecast

After experiencing a heat wave over the past three days, Beijing is likely to see thunderstorms, gales and even hailstorms in outlying areas in the coming days, the city's meteorological bureau forecast yesterday.

The temperature soared as high as 38 C in southern parts of the capital at around 2 pm Sunday, beating Saturday's high of 35 C to register as the hottest day of the year so far.

"The temperature rose sharply due to the arrival of a warm-air mass," said Sun Jisong, the bureau's lead meteorologist. According to the bureau's statistics, 38 C is a high temperature, but it is increasingly common in the past years.

"The first high-temperature day, which is above 35 C according to China's meteorological standards, often falls in Beijing between June and July," said Sun. However, the first very hot day has been arriving earlier, May 23 in 2010 and June 2 in 2011.

Yesterday, the highest temperature was 33 C, but influenced by the mounting humidity, residents might have felt that the weather was hotter and more uncomfortable than on Sunday, he noted.

Several residential compounds in Balizhuang and Ciyunsi in Chaoyang district suffered power cuts for one hour Sunday afternoon due to high temperatures, the Beijing Youth Daily reported yesterday.

Meanwhile, the sweltering weather is predicted to last for the next three days, with temperatures between 31 C to 33 C, said Sun, "but short spells of thunderstorms, gales and hailstorms may hit the western suburbs of the city, an area experiencing severe convection," he said.

"Beijing officially entered the annual flood season at the beginning of June, which means thunderstorms will hit the city quite often in the near future," he said.