Recent weather phenomena in China and the United States

Today we go over some recent news related to atmopheric events - in Unted States and China - after yesterday's post about the report "United in Science 2022" with a summary of climate related science findings, by World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and global partners.

In United States, last Monday May 1 more than 70 vehicles crashed in a dust storm on a highway, leaving at least 6 dead. "The cause of the crash is due to excessive winds blowing dirt from farm fields across the highway leading to zero visibility," the Illinois State Police said in a news release. A CNN meteorologist said 45-mph winds picked up the dust from newly plowed fields and caused a sudden drop in visibility to near zero.

In China, an early arrival of flood season in the South, sandstorms in Beijing and alerts for severe weather.

According to China Daily last March 27, the flood season began earlier than usual. Ministry of Water Resources forecasts indicate that the country is to suffer from frequent flooding and droughts this year, with some regions experiencing more severe instances compared to normal.

Same news agency reported on April 11 (about a sandstorm originated in the Gobi Desert areas of Mongolia. During the eastward movement of a Mongolian cyclone and its subsequent cold air mass, strong winds picked up the sand and dust, which were then transported southward and eastward at high altitudes and eventually settled in downstream areas such as Beijing, resulting in the sandstorm. Meteorological authorities reported that these sandstorms had covered 2.29 million square kilometers and affected at least 15 provincial-level regions and 409 million people.

And last Friday May 5, CGTN reported that China's meteorological authority renewed a blue alert for severe convection weather in some southern areas. And yesterday Sunday May 7, Yichun with its 5 million population became the hardest-hit city after the gate of Jiangkou Reservoir had to be opened due to the heavy rainfall.

China's National Meteorological Center has a four-tier, color-coded weather alert system, with red representing the most severe warning, followed by orange, yellow and blue.

In the coming days we will start a short series of posts about water, as summer in the Northern Hemisphere is approaching.

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