A witness to the rainstorm in Pingdingshan, Henan: I dare not sleep until the rain stops

According to reports, heavy rainfall occurred in Pingdingshan City, Henan Province on September 24, 2021. From 01:00 on the 24th to 08:00 on the 25th, the average rainfall in Pingdingshan City was 94.2 mm, the maximum rainfall was 325.6 mm in Changcun, Ye County, and the maximum wind speed was 15.4 m/s in Sendai, Ye County. Pingdingshan City, located inland, has an average annual rainfall of about 900 mm, which means that in the area with the heaviest rainfall, one-third of the annual rain fell in one day.

Recent rainfall in Henan

Since July 19, 2021, large-scale rainfall began to occur across Henan Province, with Zhengzhou, Xinxiang and other places experiencing rain all night long.

Compared with the heavy rain in Zhengzhou and Nanyang, this is just child's play! It can be seen how exaggerated the heavy rain in Henan this year is. If the water of West Lake is used as the unit of measurement, the rainfall in Zhengzhou in one and a half days is almost equivalent to more than 170 West Lakes!

Pingdingshan rainstorm witnesses tell their stories

Zhou Yang lives in a low-lying rural area. She went out to check at around 10 o'clock in the evening on the 24th and found that there was already a shallow layer of water in the yard.

"I checked the weather forecast, which showed the rain would stop at 1 a.m. I was worried about the house getting flooded, so I planned to wait until the rain stopped before going to bed. At around 11 a.m., I found that the weather forecast had been updated to show the rain would not stop until 2 a.m." Zhou Yang said that she had originally planned to take a nap, but was awakened again by the sound of rain and lightning around 12 a.m. The weather forecast predicted that the rain would stop until 3 a.m.

"I was devastated at that time and broke out in cold sweats. The rain this time was much heavier than the rainstorm in July. The water in the yard kept rising and flooded into the house. At the highest point, it was as high as my knees." Zhou Yang recalled that the rainstorm caused a power outage in her home, and she also considered whether to live somewhere else.

Zhou Yang, who hadn't slept all night, finally waited for the rain to stop on the morning of the 25th. As of the afternoon of the 26th, the water at the door was still knee-deep. According to the weather forecast, there is still a possibility of heavy rain in the next two days, which also makes her worried that the water level may rise again.

Chen Qing (pseudonym), who lives in Ye County, told reporters that she always likes rain, but she couldn't help feeling scared when facing this rainstorm. "I've never seen such heavy rain before. I don't know why there is so much rain in Henan this year." Chen Qing said that this should be the biggest question for Henan people at present. She gets nervous when she sees the weather forecast now, fearing that this rainstorm will come back. "My relative lives near the river, and there are dozens of sheep at home. They were all drowned this time." Chen Qing said.

Where does the Pingdingshan rainstorm come from?

In fact, it is the same as the Nanyang rainstorm, and the reason is similar. As the temperature of the Eurasian continent as a whole is dropping, the air pressure begins to rise, the Siberian high pressure gradually takes shape, and the Hawaiian high pressure from the sea shows signs of retreating, and its core control area has begun to retreat to the sea.

However, most of the southern region is still under its control, so water vapor will still be transported from the sea. The terrain is relatively flat when it lands. When it reaches Henan, it encounters the second and third steps (the Taihang Mountains near Henan are mainly northeast-southwest). Water vapor rises along the mountains, condenses and liquefies when it encounters cold, and then forms rain. Since this is the "last dance" of ocean water vapor this year, it comes with great force, so the rise is very violent, so it is often a heavy rain!