On the afternoon of May 11th, several areas in Shandong Province were hit by hailstorms accompanied by strong thunderstorm gusts of 8 to 9 on the Beaufort scale. As a result, crops in some areas were damaged, and the glass of vehicles parked outside was also affected.
Videos circulating online show hailstones hitting the ground heavily, causing damage to crops and creating large holes in the glass of cars.
According to reports from the public news, on May 11th, cities such as Laiwu, Linyi, and Rizhao in Shandong Province experienced severe convective weather. Some areas were hit by hailstones as big as chicken eggs, with hailstones accumulating in some areas resembling “rivers.”
The “Chinese Weather Enthusiasts” posted on Weibo, stating that based on photos taken by netizens, the largest hailstones were as big as goose eggs, with a diameter close to 10 centimeters. According to the classification standards for hailstones, those over 5 centimeters are considered extra-large hailstones, making this the largest hailstorm encountered in China so far this year.
The person in charge of Ju Supply Agricultural Development Co., Ltd. in Ju County, Rizhao City, told Flash News that the hailstorm started at 1:40 pm that day, mainly concentrated in Qishan Town of Ju County and Yuli Town of Wulian County. Due to the exceptionally large hailstones, “our wheat here was knocked down.” Additionally, according to Xin Huanghe, some vehicles parked outside in Laiwu District of Jinan City had their windshields shattered by the hailstones.
At 4 pm on May 11th, the Shandong Provincial Meteorological Observatory continued to issue a yellow warning for severe convective weather: it is expected that from the evening to the night of the 11th, there will be thunderstorms or showers in the southeastern part of Jinan, the southern part of Zibo, the southern part of Weifang, Linyi, Rizhao, Qingdao, Yantai, and Weihai. Some areas will experience hailstorms, with gusts of 7-9 Beaufort scale in thunderstorm areas and localized gusts exceeding 10.