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Shanghai is set to enter its annual rainy season, also known as the "plum rain season", on Wednesday, according to the city's meteorological service. 

Plum rain season, often occurring during June and July, refers to the long period of continuous rainy or cloudy weather. This also happens to be the ripening period for plums, thus its name. 

Heavy precipitation with thunderstorms and strong gales are expected to hit Shanghai from June 19 to 20, marking the beginning of this year's plum rain season. The rain will linger from June 21 to 26, bringing multiple rounds of heavy rain to the city.

With the arrival of the rainy season, residents can expect a period of cool temperatures, with the highest to be around 30 C and the lowest at around 25 to 26 C. 

Historically, the longest plum rain season in Shanghai lasted 58 days, which was logged in 1954. The shortest plum rain seasons that the city has experienced lasted less than four days in 1897, 1934, 1964 and 1965, respectively. In 1999, continuous rainy days brought a record 815.4 millimeters of rainfall to the city.  

Here are a few things to pay attention to during the rainy season:

Source: Shanghai Meteorological Service