In May 2026, multiple parts of China faced unprecedented extreme weather events, ranging from record-breaking heatwaves to severe floods and rare sandstorms.
According to the China Meteorological Administration (CMA), the country’s rainfall reached its highest May level in a decade, reported People’s Daily. Caixin noted that 144 monitoring stations broke historical records. Extreme precipitation triggered flash floods in many southern provinces including Hubei, Hunan, Guizhou and Guangdong, resulting in casualties, the outlet reported.
Harbin, the capital of north-eastern Heilongjiang province, experienced a rare Force 13 sandstorm on 31 May. High temperatures of around 35C collided with cold air and gusts that stirred-up and brought sand from Inner Mongolia and neighbouring Jilin province to create this unusual occurrence, Wu Yan, chief forecaster at the Heilongjiang Provincial Meteorological Observatory, told Science and Technology Daily. While “severe convective weather” – localised phenomena linked to thunder, strong winds and sudden temperature changes – is not unusual in the season, this year’s events have been much more intense, Wu said.
In south-central Hunan province, severe rainfall from 17 to 19 May killed seven people and affected nearly 120,000 in Shimen County, destroying 29 houses, according to Lifeweek. Beijing News reported that houses, animal pens and tea fields were swept away.
The month also came with record high temperatures. May’s national average temperature was 16.9C, 0.6C higher than previous years, the CMA announced. From 28 May to 1 June, temperatures in parts of several southern provinces exceeded 35C, according to CCTV. In north-eastern Liaoning and Heilongjiang provinces, 10 national meteorological stations broke their record for maximum temperature in May.
Another record broken was the power load of China Southern Power Grid, which serves five southern provinces. It reached a new high of 259 gigawatts on 25 May, peaking nearly a month earlier than in previous years due to increase in demand for air conditioning with the earlier-than-usual summer in South China, reported The Paper.
The World Meteorological Organization recently warned about a strong likelihood of El Niño this summer. Together with the impacts of climate change, this could mean an increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events.
Read Dialogue Earth’s previous analysis on how the Chinese public is engaging in climate adaptation.