Storm bringing rain and gales

Tropical storm Tapah, which formed at 2pm on Thursday, is likely to affect the city over the weekend, bringing scattered brief showers and strong winds, forecasters said.

At 5pm on Thursday, its center was at a latitude of 22.6 degrees north and longitude of 128.8 degrees east, about 420 kilometers southeast of Okinawa's Naha, Japan.

It was moving northwest at 10 kilometers per hour and packing maximum winds of 65kph, according to data from the National Meteorological Center.

Shanghai Meteorological Bureau said it is expected to enter the East China Sea on Saturday and then move northeastward with growing strength. Its periphery will bring more clouds to the city and trigger some rain.

Meanwhile, some south-moving cold air is sweeping the city and has cooled the highest temperature to 26 to 27 degrees Celsius. The lowest temperature recorded in Jinshan District on Thursday morning was 16.7 degrees.

Temperatures at the weekend will range between 21 and 27 degrees and the cooler weather will continue next week.

The solar term Bailu, or White Dews, will come to an end this weekend with the 16th solar term Qiufen, or Autumn Equinox, falling on Monday.

The weather bureau said there was less rainfall during this Bailu. Generally, the average number of rainy days is 5.8 with average precipitation 65.6 millimeters.

However, this year after Bailu began on September 8, Shanghai only had one rainy day with 5.8 millimeters of precipitation.