Weather authorities’ high-temperature warnings went “red” this morning, with parts of east and central China, including Nanjing, expecting 40-plus degrees Celsius, while a recent massive recent storm has also wreaked damage across several parts of our city.
Yesterday, 11 July, our very own Jiangsu Province issued a total of 39 high-temperature warnings, involving 10 prefecture-level cities and counties, many of which were coded orange. Only the cities of Huai’an, Lianyungang and Xuzhou escaped the orange code.
China’s such warning codes are divided into three levels. With the yellow warning, maximum temperatures above 35 degrees for 3 consecutive days are expected. An orange warning is issued when the maximum temperature could rises to above 37 degrees within 24 hours. Lastly, the red warning is reserved for when temperatures above 40 degrees are expected in the next day.
Then this morning, 12 July, those predictions were upped, as 37 to 39 degrees was forecast for today across the bulk of eastern China, including Nanjing, reports The Paper.
Predictions of over 40 degrees were also coming in for Shanghai Municipality, and parts of southern Zhejiang Province, southeast Sichuan Province and the north of Chongqing Municipality.
Going one step further, many parts of Nanjing then joined the red-warning club, where temperatures north of 40 degrees were expected, reported the Yangtze Evening News this morning.
During such times, many Chinese will pay particular attention to what they eat. Among the foods thought capable of dispelling summer heat are water chestnuts, lotus root, day lily, wax gourd (winter melon), cucumber, radish, eggplant, chrysanthemum, pear, loquat, watermelon, banana and red bean.
These would not have been much help on Sunday night, however, as Nanjing was hit by a severe thunderstorm causing significant disruption and damage to property.
At 20:38 on 10 July, a Gale Force (GF) 10 storm struck our city’s Liuhe District and Jiangbei New Area, while the former also experienced over 50 millimetres of rainfall in just 1 hour.
Strong winds, driving rain and forked lightning were later then witnessed in the city’s downtown. Street signs were toppled and many Wutong trees uprooted, collapsing and crushing nearby parked cars.
Wind forces on the decks of the Dashengguan road and rail bridges over the Yangtze River reached GF8. As such, road traffic was restricted and services on some sections of Nanjing Metro Line S3 were temporarily suspended, while trains on Line 1 were delayed due to high winds blowing debris on to its tracks.
Elsewhere, a sculpture in Nanjing was decapitated during the storm. Residents nearby Yueya Lake Park in Qinhuai District awoke on Monday to find the delicate bronze Qinglong sculpture atop a concrete pillar was missing. The Park Management Office told Purple Cow News this was the first time the sculpture had been damaged in 24 years.
Finally, the orange-warning signal for thunderstorms and gales issued by Nanjing Meteorological Observatory was lifted at 23:37 on Sunday.