Mercury to touch 30s in coming days

IS it summer already?

Meteorologically, it requires five consecutive days with average temperatures above 22 degrees to be officially declared summer. So, it is very likely that Shanghai may have entered summer on Saturday.

Records show Shanghai usually enters summer around May 28. But last year, summer arrived on May 18. If Saturday is officially declared summer this year, then spring lasted for 61 days — 12 days less than the average.

Today, the mercury will climb to 30 degrees Celsius and even higher the following days, Shanghai Meteorological Bureau said.

It will be cloudy today, with temperature ranging between 21 and 31 degrees. The high will rocket to 33 degrees tomorrow and 34 degrees on Wednesday. The low will hover around 23 and 24 degrees.

Under the influence of a subtropical high and the rapid increase in temperature, a new round of downpour will hit the city on Thursday. The high will remain stable — around 32 degrees and the low at 24 degrees, forecasters said.

It will be relatively cooler on Friday after Thursday’s rain. The high will drop to 27 degrees and the low to 18 degrees.

The city experienced a humid subtropical climate on Saturday when the high was recorded at 29.5 degrees in downtown Xujiahui area. It remained warm and humid yesterday.

Light air pollution, with the main pollutants being tiny PM2.5 particles, was recorded on Saturday and it escalated to light haze yesterday morning. Forecasters said there is a likelihood of light ozone pollution today.