China requires to prepare for a long, hot summer with higher temperatures and more typhoons than 2005, according to the forecast of the country’s top meteorological body.

 

According to a report released yesterday by the National Climate Centre (NCC) under the China Meteorological Administration (CMA), about eight or nine typhoons are expected to hit coastal regions beginning at the end of June while midsummer temperatures will be on average 1 C higher than last year.

 

About 30 tropical storms or typhoons are predicted to form in the Northwest Pacific Ocean or South China Sea this year compared with 23 in 2005. This has prompted the NCC to warn local governments to prepare and take due precautions.

 

"Local governments in coastal areas should be well prepared for the typhoons as they could combine with rainstorms to cause huge damage," the centre warned.

 

"From now on local authorities should get ready for bad weather, particularly floods resulting from torrential rains and persistent drought in other areas," said CMA's Director Qin Dahe.

 

"With the weather shifting between high temperatures and heavy rainfalls, we may experience more droughts than floods," he added.

 

In the hottest days of the summer, electricity consumption may go up by 10 percent south of the Yangtze River while it is predicted to increase by 5 percent in the north.

 

In another development, meteorologists warned that the current rains lashing southern China are expected to continue with more than 50 millimeters of rain falling in the next 24 hours.

 

"In the next two days damage is likely to be caused by the season's increasing air convection, so expect bad weather such as lightning, thunder, hailstorms and gales," said Qiao Lin, a senior CMA forecaster.

 

(China Daily May 10, 2006)