Beijingers waved goodbye to several weeks of sauna-like weather Wednesday, with a belated rainfall finally dispelling the midsummer heat.

The rain was forecast to fall Sunday but did not arrive until 11 a.m. Wednesday.

Temperatures quickly fell to 24.9 degrees Celsius, the lowest temperature in four weeks, according to the municipal meteorological bureau.

Wednesday's maximum temperature will not exceed 27 degrees, the bureau forecast.

The bureau issued an alert at 12:05 p.m. warning the rain would continue Wednesday afternoon, adding that thunder and lightning may hit in six hours.

As of 12 p.m. Wednesday, Beijing's city proper had received an average 6 mm of precipitation.

Puwa, a village in Fangshan District on Beijing's southwestern outskirts, received 61 mm of rain.

The rain will last until Wednesday night and Thursday's maximum temperature will climb back to 32 degrees, the weather bureau forecast.

More rain is forecast for the weekend, too, which will keep temperatures below 30 degrees.

Beijing suffered its longest heatwave in a decade last month, with daytime temperatures around 35 degrees Celsius for 10 days.