It will be wet and cloudy — but maybe not as bad as 1889
This is going to be one unpleasant week — wet, cold and humid.
Tuesday is expected to see a reprieve from the rain, and the mercury will climb to 29 degrees Celsius.
So far, so good, but residents may feel uncomfortable due to high humidity and possible air pollution.
The rain comes back on Wednesday, and a cold front is set to arrive, lowering the temperature on Thursday to 24 degrees. Also, downpours could well occur on Thursday.
Friday and Saturday will be overcast to cloudy, and the low temperature may drop to 19 degrees, forecasters said.
It was raining cats and dogs over the weekend. Thunderstorms continued to drench the city on Monday, pushing the weather bureau to extend the yellow alert for lightening and renew a yellow alert for rain on Monday.
North Shanghai’s Baoshan District was hit hardest by the pouring rain. It recorded 145.1 millimeters of rainfall from 8am Sunday to 8am Monday, setting a local daily rainfall record for September.
By 5pm on Monday, 24-hour precipitation of Baoshan hit 183.4 millimeters, followed by its neighbor Jiading reaching 146.4 millimeters and Chongming, across the river, 137.4 millimeters.
The Pudong New Area was also under the cosh with the downpours, with rainfall accumulating to 96.5 millimeters within 24 hours. Downtown Xujiahui recorded 87.4 millimeters.
The relentless driving rain forced hundreds of flight delays and cancellations.
By 3pm on Monday, Pudong airport canceled 48 outbound flights and 52 inbound flights. And 49 flights were delayed, including 19 being put off for at least four hours. Hongqiao airport has had 31 inbound flights and 30 outbound flights canceled and a further 10 flights delayed.
Also, hundreds of residences and stores, and some road sections were waterlogged, according to the Shanghai Flood Control Headquarters.
A pedestrian passage on Luoshan Road was flooded with 1.2 meters of water. More than 10 underground passages in Baoshan and Pudong were submerged under 20 centimeters of water, and Daning and Gonghexin roads were riddled with puddles.
Fifteen water pumping vehicles and more than 500 volunteers were mobilized to deal with the drains. So far, problems have been solved in most of the waterlogged sites, officials said.
On Sunday evening, traffic police in Yangpu District found 13 car plates had been flushed of vehicles on the waterlogged Nenjiang Road. All 13 owners have been contacted to pick up their missing plates.
In Shanghai, wet weather is common in late September, when summer turns to autumn, but thunderstorms are not.
On average, Xujiahui Observatory Station records three to four rainy days in the last 10 days of September. In the 145-year history of record keeping, only 14 days recorded daily precipitation of 50 millimeters or higher, indicating torrential rain.
1889 holds the record, when there were 21 consecutive rainy days, from September 19 to October 9.
Health officials warn residents of the risks of mosquito-borne dengue fever infections after days of heavy rains because mosquitoes thrive and breed in wet conditions.
Residents are advised to mop up puddles indoors and outdoors, and property managers should spray the entrances of drainage systems with insecticide.
A city-wide campaign to kill mosquitoes has been launched and will last to October, according to Shanghai Disease Control and Prevention Center.