China’s largest freshwater lake has nearly tripled in size due to heavy rain over the past two months, according to local authorities.

As of 8am Wednesday, the water level of Poyang Lake in east China’s Jiangxi Province, stood at 17.5 meters, 1.5 meters lower than the flood warning level, according to the provincial hydrology bureau. Its surface area has risen to 3,260 square kilometers, nearly three times its size before the flood season began in April.

Local weather authorities say the torrential rain is set to continue over the next five days, and push the lake’s water level to 18.5 meters.

In contrast to the swollen lake, the country’s second longest river is short of water because of a lack of rainfall at its source.

From January to May, the average temperature in China’s Qinghai Province, where the Yellow River originates, was 1.3 degrees Celsius higher than average, said Dai Sheng, a researcher with the provincial weather bureau.

Between March and May, the speed of the river’s eastward flow across north China was an average of 298 cubic meters per second, nearly 20 percent slower than normal.

Dai said the water shortage will affect hydropower, irrigation and water supply in the middle and lower reaches of the river.

Dai believes that El Nino, a warming of the sea’s surface in the Pacific that occurs every four to 12 years, contributed to the unusually low amount of rainfall in the region.

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