Sudden Darkening of Beijing Sky with Strong Winds and Heavy Rain, Even Big Trees Uprooted

On the afternoon of May 30th, a sudden darkness descended upon Beijing along with strong winds and torrential rain, uprooting large trees. Due to the impact of the heavy rain, some trains on Beijing Metro Line 13 were delayed.

The weather in Beijing changed drastically on the afternoon of the 30th, as strong winds and heavy rain swept through the city. Many netizens posted messages and videos describing how the sky turned dark in an instant and how the sudden and heavy rainfall seemed to come out of nowhere.

“Mr. Ji, I don’t know what to call it,” said one individual.

“My cousin Bo said, ‘This storm is too frightening, it’s affecting the subway,'” another remarked.

Yang Ying expressed, “It suddenly turned dark when I was heading to work, I thought I was going blind.”

Qian Qian’s Haosaid, “Indeed, branches of large trees in the Olympic Forest Park were blown down.”

Another person shared, “A massive carpet at the entrance of a building was blown away.”

“I was so scared,” conluded Yet Another.

According to China Weather Network reports, at 3 pm, Beijing was hit by a strong wind! Areas such as Mentougou, Chaoyang, and Shijingshan experienced maximum gusts of level 10 (27 meters/second), while the maximum gust at the National Basic Meteorological Observatory in the southern suburbs of Beijing reached level 9.

Videos circulating online showed the sky turning dark, cars on the road relying on their headlights for visibility; lightning, strong winds, and heavy rain arrived together, causing large trees to sway precariously, electric scooters and bicycles to topple over, and even trees to be uprooted.

Beijing Meteorological Observatory upgraded the wind warning to yellow at 2:30 pm on May 30th, stating that until 6 pm, there would be short periods of strong winds in Beijing, with gusts reaching levels 9 and 10, and locally up to level 11 in mountainous areas.

The operation of the subway was impacted due to the heavy rain. Beijing Subway’s official Weibo account announced at 3 pm that the downlink section from Liufang Station to Guangximen Station on Line 13 (towards West Zizhimen Station) was experiencing delays due to fallen trees obstructing the tracks. Currently, operations are maintained from West Zizhimen Station to Wangjing West Station on Line 13, and passengers with urgent matters are advised to take alternative routes or use other transportation options.