In recent days, Wuhan, Hubei Province, has been hit by rare extremely high humidity weather, with residents checking their phones and being surprised to find that the humidity level had reached 100%! Describing it as “living in a water curtain cave,” apart from the uncomfortable feeling of being all wet and hot, daily life has also been affected. Basements and roads have become slippery, clothes left outside to dry have turned musty, and college students have reported water dripping from their dorm room doors. At the same time, Wuhan is experiencing continuous heavy rainfall.
Over the past two days, Wuhan has faced unusually extreme high humidity weather, with phones displaying humidity levels reaching 100%. There are clear signs of moisture returning in basements and underground garages.
According to reports from various media outlets in mainland China, residents of Wuhan deeply feel the unbearable stuffiness, with the air wrapping around them like an unwearable “wet coat,” tightly enclosing everyone. Some residents say that when they wake up, they feel uncomfortably hot and sticky all over, the floors of basements and garages are slippery, requiring caution to avoid slipping. Students living in university dormitories have mentioned doors dripping water, damp beddings, and even clothes left outside smelling musty.
Residents describe it as “living in a water curtain cave,” experiencing a sticky sensation like being licked by a cow. Some jokingly said that “even a fish placed on the road would probably survive for a long time.”
In fact, Wuhan is not the only city facing high humidity weather. On May 25th, cities in the Yangtze River basin such as Chongqing, Hefei, and Nanjing had real-time humidity levels exceeding 80%, and even the northern city of Zhengzhou had reached 94% humidity.
A Weibo user named “Guoyu Milun” mentioned that Jiujiang in Jiangxi Province has also not escaped from this high humidity weather, with air conditioners being turned on earlier than usual. Despite it only being May, taking a few steps leads to sweating profusely, feeling like being trapped in a steamer. Nights are suffocating without opening windows, but with windows open, hot wind blows in, making it sticky and difficult to sleep. It’s truly unbearable.
According to Wuhan Meteorological News, the city has been experiencing high humidity levels ranging from 80% to 100%, categorized as typical “saturated high humidity weather,” resulting in greasy faces, sticky bodies, clothes remaining damp and musty even after prolonged airing. To combat the high humidity weather in Wuhan, people are advised to keep doors and windows closed as much as possible during the day to prevent outdoor dampness from entering, use dehumidifiers and air conditioning units, place dehumidifying bags in closets and corners to prevent clothes from molding and walls from becoming damp.
Apart from the high humidity heat, Wuhan has also been experiencing continuous heavy rainfall.
On May 27th, Extreme News reported that at 9:20 am, a loud thunderclap shook the ground! Three minutes later, lightning streaked across the sky, thunder crackling, rain pouring down from the sky, turning into a mist, blurring the view.
“Within minutes, my clothes were all soaked!” Ms. Wan regretted not bringing an umbrella when she went out.
“I watched a big black cloud being pushed towards the Guanggu direction by the wind,” said Mr. Huang, mentioning heavy rain around East Lake after 9 o’clock, with intense rainfall resembling a violent storm.
By around 10 a.m., the rain continued to pour.
At 8:53 a.m., the Wuhan Meteorological Observatory issued a yellow lightning warning: on the morning of the 27th, scattered thunderstorms are expected in the southern parts of Huangpi, the southern parts of the Yangtze River New District, the southern parts of Xinzhou, the central urban area, Caidian, and most streets in the Economic Development Zone.
At 9:35 a.m., the Wuhan Meteorological Observatory issued an orange rainstorm warning: due to the impact of strong rainstorm cloud systems, in the next three hours, parts of Jiangxia and Donghu High-tech Zones are expected to experience heavy rain to torrential rain accompanied by short-term heavy precipitation, thunderstorms, and strong convective weather, with hourly rainfall intensity of 30-60 millimeters, gusts of 7-9 on the Beaufort scale, causing urban and rural waterlogging, flooding in small and medium-sized rivers, as well as a high risk of geological disasters.
In fact, Wuhan has recently experienced extreme heavy rainfall multiple times. Last week, Wuhan issued red rainstorm warnings twice within a week. On the morning of May 24th, Wuhan once again issued a red rainstorm warning signal, calling for gatherings, classes, and businesses to be suspended except for special industries.
Residents of Wuhan on social media commented, “The rain in Wuhan this time is really heavy and sudden, it poured all night.”
In addition to Wuhan, the meteorological observatory in Xiantao issued a red rainstorm warning signal at 8:36 on May 24th.