The East Asian rainy season, also called the plum rain, is caused by precipitation along a persistent stationary front known as the Meiyu front for nearly two months during the late spring and early summer in East Asia between China, Taiwan, Korea and Japan. The wet season ends during the summer when the subtropical ridge becomes strong enough to push this front north of the region. These weather systems can produce heavy rainfall and flooding.
The 1990 Pacific typhoon season was another active season. It has no official bounds; it ran year-round in 1990, but most tropical cyclones tend to form in the northwestern Pacific Ocean between May and November. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the northwestern Pacific Ocean.
Severe Tropical Storm Bilis, known in the Philippines as Tropical Storm Florita, was a severe tropical storm in July 2006 that caused catastrophic damage to areas of the Philippines, Taiwan, and southeastern China. The word Bilis, submitted by the Philippines, means 'speed' or 'swiftness' in Tagalog.
The rainstorm warning signals are a set of signals used in Hong Kong to alert the public about the occurrence of heavy rain which is likely to bring about major disruptions such as traffic congestion and floods. They also ensure a state of readiness within the essential services to deal with emergencies.
The global weather activity of 2010 includes major meteorological events in the Earth's atmosphere during the year, including winter storms, hailstorms, out of season monsoon rain storms, extratropical cyclones, gales, microbursts, flooding, rainstorms, tropical cyclones, and other severe weather events.
The 2010 China floods began in early May 2010. Three hundred and ninety-two people died, and a further 232 people were reported missing as of June 30, 2010, including 57 people in a landslide in Guizhou. Fifty-three of the deaths occurred from the flooding and landslides between May 31 and June 3, and 266 deaths occurred between June 13 and June 29. Four hundred and twenty four people were killed by the end of June, including 42 from the Guizhou landslide; 277 more were killed and 147 were missing in the first two weeks of July, bringing the death toll as of August 5 to 1,072. A landslide in early August in Gansu killed at least 1,471 people and left 294 missing. In total, the flooding and landslides killed at least 3,185 people in China by August 31. More than 230 million people in 28 provinces, municipalities, and regions, especially the southern and central provinces and regions of Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Chongqing Municipality, Gansu, Sichuan, and Guizhou, and the northeastern province of Jilin were affected, while at least 4.66 million people were evacuated because of the risk of flooding and landslides in the latter half of June. By early August, over 12 million people were evacuated, and that number rose to 15.2 million by August 31.
The 2011 China floods were a series of floods from June to September 2011 that occurred in central and southern parts of the People's Republic of China. They were caused by heavy rain that inundated portions of 12 provinces, leaving other provinces still suffering a prolonged drought, and with direct economic losses of nearly US$6.5 billion.
In July 2013, much of southwest China experienced heavy rainfall that led to widespread flooding. Sichuan was the hardest hit. At least 73 people were killed as a result of the flooding, with 180 people missing. An estimated 6 million lives were disrupted by the floods.
Typhoon Mujigae, known in the Philippines as Tropical Storm Kabayan, was the costliest typhoon to impact China in 2015. The typhoon first passed over the Philippines as a developing tropical cyclone from October 1 to 3, 2015. It then caused widespread damage in the Chinese provinces of Guangdong, Guangxi, and Hainan from October 3 to 6. Afterwards, as Mujigae weakened inland, it brought heavy rain to parts of Mainland Southeast Asia. Mujigae originated from an area of disturbed weather that formed just east of the Philippines on September 30. The disturbance slowly organized amid a favorable environment, becoming a tropical depression later that day. It traveled steadily west-northwestwards and made landfall in Central Luzon late on October 1, before crossing into the South China Sea the next morning. Mujigae strengthened rapidly on October 3, becoming a mature typhoon with 10-minute sustained winds of 155 km/h (96 mph), 1-minute sustained winds of 215 km/h (134 mph), and a minimum pressure of 950 hPa (28.05 inHg). The typhoon then made landfall over Zhanjiang, Guangdong, and weakened swiftly, dissipating inland over Guangxi on October 5.
In mid-June 2016, severe weather such as heavy rainfall, thunderstorms and hail began across southern China, triggering deadly floods. Over the following month, additional rain events exacerbated flooding and affected more of the country. Areas along the Yangtze River and Huai River have been particularly hard-hit. An estimated 32 million people across 26 provinces were affected and more than 200 people were killed. 280,000 hectares of cropland was destroyed, with state damage estimates of around US$5.73 billion. According to Aon Benfield, the damage estimate has reached US$22 billion. Flooding of this magnitude was last seen in the country in 1998. The floods destroyed over 23,600 houses and left 3,600 refugees homeless.
The 2017 China floods began in early June 2017. More than 14.9017 million people in 10 provinces and municipalities and regions were affected, especially the southern and central provinces and regions of Guangxi, Guangdong, Hunan, Hubei, Jiangxi, Jiangsu, Anhui, Zhejiang, Shandong, Shaanxi, Yunnan, Sichuan, Gansu and Henan. Hunan was the hardest hit. A total of 18,100 houses were destroyed, and more than 9,821-square-metre (105,710 sq ft) of crops were inundated.
Severe Tropical Storm Pakhar, known in the Philippines as Tropical Storm Jolina, was a strong tropical storm that impacted South China during late August 2017. This storm followed Typhoon Hato which affected the area a few days prior. Pakhar was the fourteenth named storm of the Pacific typhoon season. Pakhar developed from a tropical depression to the east of Luzon during August 24, and intensified into a tropical storm later that day. Pakhar made landfall over in Aurora on August 25. Pakhar gradually intensified and peaked as a severe tropical storm by August 27, making landfall over Taishan, Jiangmen in Southern China.
Tropical Storm Ewiniar was a tropical cyclone in early June 2018 that brought prolonged heavy rains to Vietnam and South China, causing damaging floods and landslides. The fourth named storm of the 2018 Pacific typhoon season, Ewiniar developed as a tropical depression just east of Vietnam on June 2. The system moved generally northwards over the South China Sea, before intensifying into a tropical storm near the Qiongzhou Strait on June 5. Ewiniar proceeded to stall over the region as steering currents collapsed, making landfall over the Leizhou Peninsula and later over northern Hainan. Ewiniar accelerated to the northeast on June 7 and moved back over open sea, allowing it to strengthen slightly and reach peak intensity with maximum sustained winds of 75 km/h (47 mph) and a central pressure of 998 hPa. The storm made landfall in eastern Guangdong shortly thereafter and weakened into a tropical depression on June 8. The system ultimately dissipated east of Taiwan on June 11.
In late June through mid-July 2018, successive heavy downpours in southwestern Japan resulted in widespread, devastating floods and mudflows. The event is officially referred to as Heisei san-jū-nen shichi-gatsu gōu by the Japan Meteorological Agency. As of 20 July, 225 people were confirmed dead across 15 prefectures with a further 13 people reported missing. More than 8 million people were advised or urged to evacuate across 23 prefectures. It is the deadliest freshwater flood-related disaster in the country since the 1982 Nagasaki flood when 299 people died.
The 2020 East Africa floods were a natural disaster in Rwanda, Kenya, Somalia, Burundi, Ethiopia, Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti and Tanzania, affecting at least 700,000 people. They began when excessive rains began falling in March, leading to massive flooding and landslides. They caused more than 430 deaths, notably in Kenya and Rwanda. In the fall another round of floods hit the African Sahel.
In early June 2020, heavy rains caused by the regional rainy season led to floods severely affecting large areas of southern China including the Yangtze basin and its tributaries. Rains and floods extended to central and eastern China during July and were described as the worst since at least 1998.
The 2021 floods and landslides in Sri Lanka are flash floods and mudslides which were caused from heavy torrential rainfalls during May and June 2021. As of 7 June 2021; the monsoon floods affected in about 10 districts, killing at least 17 persons including about 10 because of floods and 4 people because of mudslides. About 245,000 people were affected living in Colombo, Puttalam, Kandy, Kalutara, Kurunegala, Gampaha, Nuwara Eliya, Ratnapura and Galle. More than 800 houses were reported to have been damaged.
Several floods struck China starting in June 2021, most of them caused by heavy rainfalls in different areas. According to the World Meteorological Organization, such heavy rains are frequently a result of climate change. The most notable floods were the 2021 Henan floods, which left 398 dead or missing.
Several floods caused by heavy rainfall struck in China starting in Guangdong Province in April 2024. Bands of heavy rainfall in June 2024 caused water levels to rise in rivers before moving northwards to other Southeastern and Central Chinese provinces, causing significantly raised water levels in the Yangtze River and the Pearl River Delta, inundating many towns and cities, forcing the relocation of hundreds of thousands of civilians, destroying several roads, structures, and farmland, and causing at least 71 deaths.
