The National Meteorological Center issued a yellow alert for rainstorms, the second-lowest level in the country's four-tier warning system, on Tuesday as widespread heavy rainfall continued across China.

From Tuesday morning to Wednesday morning, heavy to torrential rain is forecast to hit northern and western areas south of the Yangtze River, eastern and southern Guizhou province, and central and western parts of South China. Intense downpours of 100 to 180 millimeters are expected in parts of southwestern Hunan province, southern Guizhou province, northern Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, and central Guangdong province. Localized thunderstorms, gale-force winds and other severe convective weather are also expected, the center said.

The warning followed massive rainfall that drenched large parts of the country.

According to figures compiled by the center between 8 am Sunday and 6 am Monday, a broad rainband swept across central and eastern China.

Nationwide, 40 meteorological stations recorded extraordinarily heavy rain during the period, while 628 stations logged torrential rain. In addition, two national-level meteorological stations broke historical precipitation records, and 81 national meteorological stations set new monthly precipitation records, the center said.

During the period, the highest cumulative rainfall total nationwide was recorded in Hefeng county of the Enshi Tujia and Miao autonomous prefecture in Hubei province, where 458.8 mm of rain fell. The most intense hourly rainfall was registered in Lixian county in Changde, Hunan province, reaching 146 mm in a single hour.

Zhang Tao, chief forecaster at the center, said the latest round of precipitation featured primarily steady rainfall in northern China and convective rainfall in southern China. The northern section of the main rain belt is expected to move eastward and southward before gradually weakening, while the southern section will persist.

On Tuesday, stable rainfall is expected to affect the Yellow-Huaihe River Valley, while areas stretching from Guizhou to Hubei, Hunan and Anhui provinces will remain the main regions affected by convective rainfall.

Additionally, two more large-scale rainfall events are expected from Thursday to Friday and then from Sunday to Monday, Zhang said.

Central and eastern China are forecast to see widespread rainfall, while eastern parts of Northwest China, North China and the Yellow-Huaihe River Valley are expected to experience light to moderate rain, with heavy rain in some areas, he added.