On July 12th, heavy rain suddenly poured over multiple areas of Beijing, turning the sky dark in an instant with mist swirling around. The Beijing authorities issued alerts for heavy rain, thunderstorms, strong winds, and initiated a level four emergency flood response across the city.
The topic “Sudden Heavy Rain in Beijing Darkens Sky in a Second” trended on social media on the afternoon of the 12th. Videos captured by several Beijing netizens showed heavy rain pouring down in areas like Dongcheng District, Fangshan District, and Mentougou District, with the sky turning dark within seconds and mist enveloping the surroundings.
Local residents commented, “The rain is really heavy, the entire sky has darkened!” and “Not exaggerating, it has been raining in Chaoyang, Beijing for over an hour now, transitioning from heavy rain to pouring rain, and it’s still ongoing.”
According to the Beijing Youth Daily, Mentougou District initiated a level two flood response, with the local meteorological station issuing an orange alert for heavy rain on the 12th at 12:30 PM. Currently, all scenic spots and homestays in the district have temporarily closed.
At 10:10 AM, the Beijing Meteorological Observatory issued a yellow alert for thunderstorms; at 10:20 AM, a blue alert for heavy rain was issued; and at 1:03 PM, a blue alert for strong winds was issued.
Subsequently, the Beijing Meteorological Bureau issued blue alerts for geological disaster weather risks and urban waterlogging.
It is forecasted that on the morning of the 13th until around noon, there will still be thunderstorm weather in the city, with locally heavy rainfall expected. The average precipitation will be between 3-8 millimeters, with some areas receiving 30-50 millimeters, and maximum rainfall rates reaching 20-40 millimeters per hour.