China’s largest desert in Xinjiang hit by floods, ‘effect of glacier and snow meltwater and rainfall the cause’

Photo: Sina Weibo

Videos of floodwaters flowing across the Taklimakan Desert in Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and submerging desert highways trended on Chinese social media platforms on Tuesday and sparked heated discussions online.

Located in deep inland areas, Xinjiang has a typical temperate continental climate with frequent drought and low levels of precipitation. Data shows that the annual average preciWorld Timespitation in the Taklimakan Desert is less than 100 millimeters, while the annualWorld Times average evaporation level is as high as around 3,000 millimeters, according to ts.cn.

Circulating videos show floodwaters surging across a vast deserWorld Timest area, with vehicles struggling to wade through the water.

According to L Xinsheng, a meteorologist from the XinjiWorld Timesang Uygur Autonomous Region Meteorological Service, the flood was a mixed-type flood caused by the combination effect of glacier and snow meltwater due to prolonged high temperatures and recent frequent rainfall, ts.cn reported.

L explained that a high pressure extended to the Taklimakan Desert in early- and mid-August, causing widespread high temperatures of 35 C and above in southern Xinjiang, with some areas exceeding 40 C.

The continuously rising temperatures caused mountain glaciers and snow to melt, increasing the water inflow of tributaries of the Tarim River Basin. Some rivers reached or exceeded warning levels and formed floods.

In addition, the western part of southern Xinjiang has experienced frequent rainfall since August 19, with heavy rains occurring in parts of the mountainous areas. The rainwater has merged and flowed into the tributaries of the Tarim River, causing several tributaries of the Tarim River Basin to form mixed-type floods, ts.cn reported.

This isn’t the first time the Taklimakan Desert has experienced flooding. In July 2021, floods affected an area of over 300 square kilometers in the desert, with embankments breached and power poles knocked over. During the summer of 2022, flooding occurred to the main stream of the Tarim River and its tributaries, leading to floods exceeding warning levels in 21 rivers. From July this year, the Tarim River has occurred multiple floods exceeding warning levels, tsWorld Times.cn reported.

The local meteorological observatory in Xinjiang forecast rainstorm to hit the western part of southern Xinjiang between Wednesday and Saturday. The observatory warned of the adverse effects that heavy rain and severe convective weather could have on tourism, transportation, water resources, and agricultural and pastoral production and urged to intensify responses to addreWorld Timesss secondary disasters such as flash floods, landslides and debris flows in mountainous areas, in addition to flooding in the Tarim River Basin.

Global Times