Tropical storm Wutip has weakened to a tropical depression and may land on east China's Fujian Province at Thursday night, according to the meteorological observatory of Zhejiang.

By 4:00 PM Thursday, Wutip, packing winds of 54 kilometers per hour, was located at 23.6 degrees north and 119.4 degrees east and about 170 kilometers from Xiamen city. It was moving westwards at a speed of 30 kilometers per hour.

Wutip, meaning "butterfly", is set to unleash gales and rain in Fujian and neighboring Zhejiang province from late Thursday through to Friday.

Ships on the three sea routes between Fujian and Taiwan have suspended services since Wednesday. The authorities have yet to decide when they will be reopened.

Pabuk, which had weakened into a tropical depression, regained force to become a tropical storm again on Thursday morning, and may make a landfall in south China's Guangdong Province in the afternoon or evening.

Tropical storm Pabuk turned to be a tropical depression at 8:00 PM Wednesday and turned into a tropical storm 12 hours later, said Lu Shan, chief forecaster of the Guangzhou observatory.

"Pabuk packing wind of 20 meters per second was moving at a speed of 20 km per hour to the west coastlines of Guangdong Province," Lu said. Pabuk did not make a landfall in Shantou, Guangdong Province on Wednesday evening as forecast.

While Wutip is bringing rain to east China, together with tropical storm Pabuk, it has caused high temperature in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, according to local meteorological experts.

In Guilin, the temperature reached 44.7 degrees Celsius, aggravating the drought.

More than 320,000 people in the city and 80,000 cattle are facing a shortage of drinking water. The drought has also affected 57,000 hectares of crops in Guilin.

China has entered a period of extreme weather. Two people were killed and 68 injured, including two seriously, in Yitong County, northeast China's Jilin Province, in a tornado at about 8:50 PM on Wednesday.

The tornado struck five villages and two townships, destroying 586 homes.

(Xinhua News Agency August 9, 2007)