Shanghai to enter plum rain season this Saturday

Shanghai will enter the plum rain season tomorrow, with soggier and muggy days ahead, local meteorological officials announced on Friday.

The arrival of the season is five days later than last year, while it's still two days earlier than usual, according to the officials.

The plum rain season is caused by warm air from Southeast Asia, which results in a rain belt moving around the Yangtze River Delta region in June and July. As the two months are the ripening period of plums, it is called thus.

As the rain belt isn't stable, heavy rains, thunderstorms as well as strong winds are forecast to hit the city from Sunday to Monday.

From Tuesday, as the rain belt moves to south, the weather is expected to be cloudy with afternoon showers.

From next Friday, the belt will move back with more precipitation.

The mercury won't fluctuate significantly over the next 10 days. The high will be around 27 degrees Celsius over next three days, and will rise to over 30 degrees from Tuesday. At the same time, the low is likely to range between 23 and 26 degrees.

The city's plum rain season usually lasts for 23 days, while last year's was 19 days.