As seen from Yonganli (via Alicia).

As widely prophesied on weather apps this morning, a sandstorm smote us this evening. Around 6 pm, our editor-at-large received an ominous warning about said sandstorm devastating Changping. Minutes later, it was we in Sanlitun amid its yellow maw. I wonder if people noticed…

Being from Hong Kong, storms no longer faze me. But hailstones the size of golf balls? That’s a different story. An upscale mall in Kowloon Tong recently had its windows smashed by hail, and certain subway stations were flooded; planes were diverted, containers at our ports were blown sideways… what a way to end a weekend of Rugby Sevens! (Which New Zealand won, by the way.)

My aunt sent me these photos:

You might be interested to know that hailstorm covering a wide area is a warning sign of upcoming economic or political instability, according to renowned fengshui consultant Mak Ling-Ling (via The Standard):

“Hong Kong has seen hail many times in history. But hailstorms in large areas, including Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hong Kong are rare,” she said. “It could be a case of people’s complaints not being heard.”

People’s complaints not being heard - maybe they’re not protesting enough.

A reminder that hail can be deadly. Stay safe out there, and watch your spending.

UPDATE, 3:05 pm: Via SCMP:

Heavy rain will continue in Guangdong, Guangxi and parts of Taiwan until at least Wednesday, China’s National Meterological Centre said on Monday. Hailstorms could still occur in southern and central parts of Guangdong, it added.

The Ministry of Civil Affairs said on Monday morning that at least 16 people were killed and two missing in the first disastrous storms to hit southern China this spring since March 28.

Also see: Hail And Serein: The Amazing Storm That Just Swept Through Beijing

Okay, so by the looks of this, he isn’t “walking.” More like running.

Picture taken by Xinhua, published in Shanghai Daily. The man is reportedly at a ferry terminal in Shantou, Guangdong province, the same city in which — last we checked — a hippo is on the loose.

A tidal bore, in which “the leading edge of an incoming tide forms a wave (or waves) of water that travels up a river or narrow bay against the direction of the river or bay’s current,” as defined by Wikipedia, caused hundreds to gather at the bank of Qiantang River Haining, Zhejiang Province yesterday.

The tidal bores there are strongest on the 18th day of the eighth lunar month, which fell on September 22 this year. To the best of our knowlege, no one got hurt this time, like last time. The highest wave was supposed to reach 3.7 meters, accoring to Xinhua.

Meanwhile, in other weather-related news, Typhoon Usagi has killed at least 21 people in southern China, specifically Guangdong province. At least 20 died as the result of a landfall.

Here are images collected on Youku:

Youku vid of the tidal bores:

On thy cold gray stones, O Sea! The tender grace of a day that is dead is not at all what these bystanders on the banks of the Qiantang River were considering when ferocious waters and 30-meter-high waves caused in part by Typhoon Trami swept them off their feet.

The Qiantang River loops around Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. Trami is lashing southern China currently after leaving at least 18 dead in the Philippines.

On the bright side, it looks like chengguan and bystanders stood side by side and had a good time. At least 30 people were reportedly injured.

Image via Daily Mail

That ought to teach everyone a lesso…

Huh. So much happiness. Never mind. Carry on, then.

(H/T Alicia)

According to Wikipedia, a waterspout is “an intense columnar vortex (usually appearing as a funnel-shaped cloud) that occurs over a body of water, connected to a cumuliform cloud. In the common form, it is a non-supercell tornado over water.” That’s awesome.

They usually appear in the tropics, but one was recently spotted in the northeastern Chinese province of Heilongjiang. As described by Sina:

A rare waterspout was spotted on the Songhuajiang River which runs through Daqing city in northeastern Heilongjiang Province on August 19. Hail as big as pigeon eggs then descended on the area, lasting for about ten minutes.

One more look:

Also see: waterspout rainbow on the Baltic Sea!

Rare waterspout spotted in NE China (Sina)

The thunderstorm that swept through Beijing on Sunday filled us with a collective terror that ramified into the outer ring roads. Everything that follows is true. At Capital M in Qianmen, Gady Epstein of the Economist had just begun to talk about Bo Xilai when the thunderclap sprang from the direction of Zhongnanhai. That morning at eight, a sanitation worker outside Terminal 3 of Beijing Capital International Airport was struck down by a bolt of lightning. At a midday brunch in a homey apartment near Sanlitun, an AFP journalist noted that the lightning that morning, accompanied by explosions in the sky, was the fiercest she had ever encountered. And in a subway station, which is every subway station, people stood elbow to elbow. Only the occasional brave soul broke the line and sallied forth, sprinting through the rain to the percussion of God’s composition.

Mmm, bacon.

But first, serious news, via Xinhua:

Shanghai is set to have the hottest July since weather records started being kept 140 years ago, local meteorological authorities said Monday.

The Chinese financial and business center had 23 days in July when the daily high temperature was recorded at or above 35 degrees Celsius, equalling the current record, according to the city’s meteorological center.

Anyone want to go for a dip?

And now…

The World of Chinese:

Reporters in Shanghai set out to test just how unbelievably hot the day was by doing an experiment: cooking. The reporter went to the People’s Square and laid a piece of pork (五花肉, wuhuarou) on the marble floor. After thirty seconds, the bottom of the meat was already white. After ten minutes, the pork was medium-well done. The reporter also stood a candle on the ground, which started to melt shortly. You can watch how the experiments were done in the video below, starting at 1:44.

It’s raining everywhere, and not the good kind, under which one might twirl around a lamppost. In Liuzhou, Guangxi, rains have caused flooding and prompted local blogger Liuzhou Laowai to exclaim, “It’s a holiday. It has to rain!” Here are more pictures of afflicted Guangxi Jiangxi towns via Xinhua.

In Dingzhou, Hebei province on June 7, a student on her way to gaokao fell into a ditch and drowned during a thunderstorm. “The current in the drainage ditch was furious after the storm unleashed 97.2 millimeters of rain in three hours, and the family was forced to hire an excavator to try and rescue the girl, to no avail,” reports Shanghaiist.

In Hunan province, at least three are dead after rains caused a landslide, while 200,000 people have been affected in Anhui province.

And right here in Beijing, right now:

https://twitter.com/niubi/status/344357297557999616

“Lovely” June thunderstorm — and painful. I just scootered through it.

Or as David Feng puts it:

https://twitter.com/DavidFeng/status/344368013778247682

All of this follows huge storms that left 55 people dead and 14 missing last month in the south. “The Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs website says at least nine provinces have had storms and some flooding and landslides since Tuesday. It says Guangdong province has been hit the hardest, with 36 deaths and 10 missing people, followed by Jiangxi province, where six people are reported dead and four more missing,” reports AP.

Rain is no fun, especially during holidays. Stock up on beer and liquor, everyone. Time to bunker up and play some Settlers of Catan.

UPDATE, 5:54 pm: It stopped raining.

(Images via Chinanews.com, Xinhua, all from Guangxi)

A freak hailstorm swept through southern China last night, hitting Fujian, Hunan and Guangdong provinces, but the place that got it worst was the city of Dongguan, Guangdong, where preliminary reports say at least eight people have died and 136 injured.

According to SCMP, “maximum wind speeds were recorded at 49.1 metres a second, and the greatest precipitation of rain was recorded at 40.6mm in Dalingshan.”

Witnesses likened the egg-sized hail to “stones falling from the sky” and said they “sounded like endless drumming.”

Judging by some pictures, the hail was even bigger than eggs in some parts:

Here’s another picture via CNTV:

And three more pictures of the damage:

Here’s a compilation video:

Youku version of top vid:

UPDATE, 3/22, 5:12 pm: Looks like it’s now 9 dead, 272 injured, according to Xinhua. Eleven or those injured are in critical condition.