A very bright meteor streaked across the night sky over southern China on May 28, 2025, briefly illuminating Maoming in Guangdong Province and parts of Hainan. The event occurred around 13:00 UTC (21:30 local time) and was followed by a loud boom.
Severe floods and mudslides struck northern Guangxi, China, on May 23, 2025, killing eight people in Longsheng county and destroying ten homes.
Heavy rain triggered a landslide in the Gaozhou region of Guangdong on May 18. Three people died and one remains missing. Rescue teams continue searching as the region remains under a yellow alert.
A severe hailstorm struck Beijing on May 13, 2025, producing hailstones up to 4 cm (1.6 inches) in diameter that caused widespread vehicle damage, disrupted traffic, and led to flight cancellations. The storm triggered multiple alerts from the Beijing Meteorological Observatory and impacted 13 districts.
Heavy rainfall from May 8 to 11, 2025, triggered flash floods in Shuilong Village, China’s Guangdong Province, damaging homes and crops and forcing evacuations. No casualties were reported, but over 3 221 people were preemptively evacuated across the province.
A shallow earthquake registered by the USGS as M5.6 hit southwest China’s Xizang autonomous region at 21:11 UTC on May 11, 2025 (05:11 local time on May 12). The agency is reporting a depth of 9 km (6 miles). EMSC is reporting the same magnitude and depth.
A severe hailstorm struck Baoding, Hebei Province, on May 5, 2025, covering streets with hailstones up to 2 cm (0.8 inches) in diameter. The storm caused significant agricultural losses.
In an effort to tackle water shortages in Xinjiang, China has undertaken a successful drone-based cloud-seeding experiment to enhance rainfall. The trial, conducted over a vast area of the Bayanbulak Grasslands, demonstrated moisture-laden positive results, with drones dispersing silver iodide to trigger precipitation. This approach aims to combat the region’s ongoing challenges with desertification and glacial retreat.
Strong winds and heavy rainfall struck Qianxi, Guizhou Province, China, on Sunday, May 4, 2025, causing four tourist boats to capsize on the Liuchong River. The incident left nine people dead and 70 hospitalized.
Chinese authorities warned citizens weighing less than 50 kg (110 lb) to stay indoors as a large-scale low-pressure system moving in from Mongolia brought record-breaking winds exceeding 150 km/h (93 mph) to parts of northern China. Over 499 weather stations broke April wind records as the system moved southeast through the weekend, causing widespread damage and placing millions under severe weather alerts.
