[Quick News] Red Alert in Jinshan, Orange in Central Shanghai – Flood Risk Rises

Jinshan has been upgraded to a red rainstorm warning – the city's highest

As of 9:57am Monday, the rainstorm warning for Shanghai's Jinshan was raised from orange to red, with forecasters expecting more than 220 millimeters of rain across most of the suburban district's streets and towns in the next six hours, raising the risk of urban flooding, flooded farmland and traffic jams. Jiading, Minhang, and Qingpu districts as well as the Pudong New Area remained on orange with the Shanghai's central districts also elevated to orange from yellow at 10:54am.

The Shanghai Meteorological Observatory projected that over the coming 12 hours, much of the central urban area will see more than 150mm of rainfall in a six-hour period. The intense precipitation is likely to cause urban flooding and traffic jams. Authorities have called on the public to step up vigilance and protective measures against the extreme downpour.

Earlier, the city's flood control office and meteorological bureau put out a joint advisory at 7:30am: most of Shanghai will keep seeing heavy rain through the day. A lot of areas will only see shallow, short-lived puddling (under 0.15 meters).

The low-lying spots, underpasses and known flood-prone points in Pudong as well as Baoshan, Minhang, Jiading, Jinshan, Fengxian, Songjiang and Qingpu districts are at risk of general ponding in the 0.15-0.30-meter range. That's ankle-to-shin deep – enough to strand a scooter or flood a basement garage.

Dozens of flood-affected intersections across Minhang, Pudong, Putuo, Jiading and Xuhui are already under temporary traffic control this morning. The Donghai Bridge and the Yangtze River Bridge are closed in both directions, and several expressways are under speed limits of 40-60 kilometers per hour.

Rain overnight was already heavy, and the numbers back that up

Between 8pm Sunday and 5am today, central and southern Shanghai saw heavy to torrential rain, with Jinshan getting hit hardest – Langxia Town logged 115mm, the highest in the city.

The rain hasn't let up: Songjiang's Yexie Town logged 108.8mm in just the past two hours.

A stronger spiral rain band on the storm's north side is still moving through, with the southwestern districts expected to see the heaviest rain over the next one to two hours.

Metro lines are down, flights are canceled – plan around it

Nearly four in 10 flights at Shanghai's two airports are being cut today – 943 flights cancelled between them, 642 at Pudong and 301 at Hongqiao.

On the ground, Metro Lines 3, 5, 16 and the Pujiang Line are fully suspended with no restart time given, while Lines 1, 2, 6 and 10 are running shortened routes only.

Ferries, river cruises and the three island ferry routes are suspended, too.

If you have anywhere to be, build in extra time or a backup plan before you head out – check your specific line and flight status directly, since this is changing through the day.

Dolphin itself has weakened and moved inland – the wind won't be the main story today

As of 7am, Dolphin's center was inside Longquan, in Zhejiang Province's Lishui area, well inland already. It's been downgraded to a tropical storm, with top winds around level 9: strong enough to snap branches and make it genuinely hard to stay on your feet outdoors, but short of uprooting full-grown trees.

Gusts overnight did get stronger than that in spots – Fengxian's Haiwan Town saw a level 10 gust, the kind that can snap small trees outright, not just branches.

The National Meteorological Center expects Dolphin to keep moving northwest at 20-25 km/h and keep losing strength through the day.

The storm is weakening and moving away from the city. The flooding risk it's leaving behind is not. Stay indoors unless it is absolutely essential to venture out.

If you're out, keep clear of trees, billboards and power lines, avoid flooded roads entirely, and if your car stalls in water, get out immediately. Stay alert wherever you are today.