2010-07-17 14:26

BEIJING - Typhoon Conson, the second typhoon of the season to affect China, weakened into a severe tropical storm early Saturday, the National Meteorological Center (NMC) said.

Tropical storm Conson is now forecast to move in a northwesterly direction at a speed of 20 kilometers per hour and make a second landfall in north Vietnam either Saturday afternoon or evening, a statement on the website of the China Meteorological Administration, the NMC's parent organization, said.

But the tropical storm is still forecast to bring gales and heavy rains to southern and eastern coastal areas of China over the next 24 hours.

Separately, the NMC Saturday issued a yellow alert, the third highest level, for torrential rains in several parts of China.

Downpours will hit parts of Sichuan, Shanxi, Hubei, Henan, Yunnan, Shandong and Guangdong provinces over the next 24 hours, the NMC forecast.

Many other parts of China are being hit by heatwaves.

Central and western Inner Mongolia autonomous region, western Gansu province and some parts of Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region will roast under scorching temperatures over the next three days. Temperatures in these areas will rise to between 35 and 37 degrees Celsius.

Maximum temperatures in the southern Xinjiang Basin may hit 40 degrees Celsius.