(Minghui.org) While sandstorms broke out in northern China, five provinces experienced heavy hailstorms between March 22 and 23, 2023, including Jiangxi Province and Fujian Province. Some hailstones were fist-sized, and many people were injured.

Before the rainstorm arrived at the capital city of Fuzhou City of Fujian Province, the daytime was as dark as night, leaving many residents frightened. In addition, earthquakes shook both Tibet and Sichuan Province on March 23.

Left: Fist-sized hail in five southern China provinces. Right: Windshields damaged by hail in Ganzhou, Jiangxi Province

Jiangxi Province: Many People Injured

Heavy hailstorms struck numerous provinces in China between March 22 and 23. They include Zhejiang Province in east China, and Jiangxi, Fujian, Guangxi, and Guangdong in southern China. Vehicles and crops were damaged, and people were injured.

Jiangxi Meteorological Observatory reported an unusually heavy hailstorm at Ganzhou City on March 22. The roofs of some residential buildings were damaged. Some elderly and children were injured.

Video showed some hailstones were larger than goose eggs and some were fist-sized. In the video, intense hail came down with strong wind. They struck the street and roofs with a terrifying sound. Many car windows and roofs were damaged. A large number of residents suffered financial loss.

Zhao from Shicheng County in Jiangxi Province told Epoch Times on March 23, “The largest hailstones were as big as bowls. Some are like fists and most are egg-sized.” Many people outdoors were struck and bleeding. “We have never seen something like this here. The weather is strange,” he added.

Some residents said the hailstones were heavy and hard, and they did not melt after a long time. The loss was severe since both roofs and vehicles were damaged. Zhao said his greenhouse was crushed and he had to rebuild it. Crops and vegetables in the open land were also damaged.

Fujian Province: Daytime as Dark as Night

Thunderstorms, heavy rain, and hail ravaged Fujian Province on the morning of March 23. Jian’ou and six other weather centers issued code orange rainstorm warnings. In addition, 32 weather centers had orange-level warnings for hail, and 23 weather centers put out orange-level warnings for thunder.

Rain poured in Fuzhou, the capital city of Fujian Province, on March 23. Before that, dark clouds kept coming with thunder. At about 11 a.m., it suddenly went dark for two hours. The entire city was dark, and it was even more frightening than the night. “Never seen heavy rain like this before – and it went dark within one second. It is so scary!” one resident wrote on the social media platform Weibo.

Level 10 (gale) and level 11 (storm force) winds were observed in Sha County, Sanming, Youxi, and Gutian. In addition, level 12 (hurricane force) was observed in Jianning, Mingxi, and Fuding. The squall line quickly pushed eastward, sweeping through Xiamen and adjacent areas.

The squall line in meteorology refers to a narrow and strong convective weather belt with a small area, short life, sudden changes in air pressure and wind. When it comes, there will be strong weather phenomena such as sudden change in wind direction, increase in wind force, increase in air pressure, and drop in temperature.

A similar situation occurred in Guangdong and Guangxi Provinces with hail that damaged roofs. According to Guangzhou Daily, as of 9:26 a.m. on March 23, orange warnings were issued in seven cities and counties of northern Guangdong Province. It was also predicted that Guangdong will have large-scale strong convection (short-term heavy precipitation, thunderstorms, strong winds and hail) and heavy precipitation between March 23 and 25.

In Guangxi Province, where the temperature was nearly 30°C (or 86°F), residents were surprised to see the hail, and multiple cities had issued orange warnings.

Earthquakes in Tibet and Sichuan

On March 23, the Seismological Bureau of the Tibet Autonomous Region detected an earthquake of magnitude 3.3 occurring at 4:44 p.m., in Medog County, Nyingchi City, Tibet (29.12 degrees north latitude, 95.69 degrees east longitude). The focal depth was 10 km.

On the same day, the China Earthquake Network also confirmed a magnitude 3.2 earthquake occurred at 15:47 on March 23 in Qianwei County, Sichuan Province (29.37 degrees north latitude, 103.95 degrees east longitude), with a focal depth of 8 kilometers.

Sandstorm in North China with Polluted Air

Eighteen provinces in northern China have recently experienced dusty weather and sandstorms, including Inner Mongolia, Gansu, Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei. Raining mud also appeared in Changchun (Jilin Province), Shenyang (Liaoning Province), and Harbin (Heilongjiang Province). The air was filled with a muddy smell.

In addition, large-scale air pollution of particulate matter PM₁₀ (inhalable particles 10 micrometers and smaller) along with sand dust was observed in Shandong, Henan, Shanxi, Anhui, and other provinces. Among these areas, Qingdao, Jinan, and Zhengzhou had poor air quality that was off the charts.

Addition reports also confirmed that more than 60 cities had pollution with Air Quality Index (AQI) of color code purple, meaning PM₁₀ between 201 and 300. They include Inner Mongolia, north China, and northeast China.