City braces for a week of storms

By Lu Feiran  |   2008-6-10  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

GET out the umbrellas - the weather bureau has predicted rain for almost every day this week.

Thunderstorms are expected to hit the city today, the Shanghai Meteorological Bureau said.

The bureau also said temperatures would drop. The maximum temperature will not rise above 28 degrees Celsius over the next seven days, while the minimum temperature will range from 21 to 22 degrees, forecasters said.

The bureau said thunderstorms are likely to hit in the afternoons, and that people should be careful of lightning.

If a lightning alert is issued, people are advised to stay indoors.

A massive rainstorm swept over the city on Saturday, causing water to collect on more than 40 roads and flood into more than 4,000 homes, according to the Shanghai Flood Control Headquarters.

On the same day, the city stepped into this year's plum rain season, about 10 days earlier than expected.

Forecasters said it was hard to say whether it would be a humid season or a dry season, though the bureau has forecast that rainfall for the whole flood season, which is from June to September, will be less severe than normal.