Storm brings heavy rain and hail to Shanghai
Shanghai is facing storms, heavy rain and hailstorms with a yellow alert issued by the local meteorological authority this afternoon.
Residents, businesses and authorities were warned to avoid or take precautions with fragile outdoor objects and equipment, while the city's infrastructure struggles to cope with the onslaught of nature's fury.
A netizen posts a picture of a hailstone.
In the afternoon, the Shanghai meteorological authority updated its rainstorm warning level to yellow. It is expected that in the next six hours, the central and northern areas of the city will receive more than one hour of rain of 50 millimeters.
A yellow warning for hailstorms was also issued, which were expected in the central city, Pudong New Area, Jiading, Baoshan, and other districts, according to a Shanghai Fabu post.
By noon, the city was enveloped in darkness as storm clouds blocked out the sun. Then the heavy rain arrived as weather forecasters had predicted, causing flash floods in low-lying areas, stopping or delaying air traffic and leading to waterlogged roads.
Chen Wenhao spent three hours on a flight from Beijing to Shanghai, compared with the usual two hours.
"Our plane circled low over Shanghai for a long time and then luckily we landed," Chen told Shanghai Daily. "The captain said we almost had to make a backup landing in another city."
The heavy rain was accompanied by a barrage of hailstorms, netizens said, and posted pictures of the hail on social media.
