China is experiencing an unusual summer weather pattern with the
rainy season being concentrated in a shorter period and featuring
much more intense downpours.
But the Huaihe River valley, where much of this year's flooding
occurred, was seeing more days of torrential rain, despite the
shorter rainy season, because there were fewer clear days between
the rain, said a senior Chinese meteorologist.
Jiao Meiyan, deputy director-general of the National Meteorological
Center under the China Meteorological Administration, compared the
present rainy season with that of 1991, when massive flooding
occurred.
"Large rains began to fall in the Huaihe River valley from the
middle of May in 1991, followed by alternate rainy and clear
periods. This year is different with continuous heavy rainfalls
starting late from June 27 with only short intervals," Jiao
said.
She said the intensity of rainfalls was also unusual this year
along the precipitation zone extending from the Huaihe River
valley, the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River to the
northern part of southwest China's Guizhou Province.
Meteorological monitoring shows the 24-hour precipitation on July 6
and 7 in Zhangjiajie City, of central China's Hunan Province,
amounted to over 400 millimeters, double the previous record.
The daily precipitation in Chuxian County of east China's Anhui
Province also hit a record high of more than 300 millimeters.
Due to the influence of a monsoon climate, China's rainfall was
mainly confined to the precipitation zone, the location of which
was determined by subtropical high pressure zones from the west
Pacific, Jiao said.
"The seasonal movement of subtropical high pressure makes the
precipitation zone move between the Yangtze-Huaihe area and
Huaihe-Yellow River area. Floods in summer are usually regional,
but not extensive," Jiao added.
Weather forecasts from the Central Meteorological Station show the
Yellow River valley and northwestern areas will see increased
rainfall from the middle of July, adding to the flood risks in
north China.
(Xinhua News Agency July 11, 2003)
