Thunderstorms are in the forecast for today's Shanghai. Unfortunately, that's no April Fools' Day joke.

The weather should be warm this weekend, however, for the millions of people expected to visit nearby cemeteries and the thousands of racing fans who will take in the A1 Grand Prix at the Shanghai International Circuit in suburban Jiading District.

Today's rain should bring relief for farmers in the city, after Shanghai received only 42 millimeters of rainfall during the first half of March, about 60 percent less than average for this time of year.

The average temperature during the first half of March was 11.9 degrees Celsius, 3.1 degrees higher than average.

Thunderstorms are expected today, with temperatures between 16 and 20 degrees. Sunday should be cloudy and a little windy, with a high of 22 degrees.

It's a tradition for people to pay their family pilgrimage at their deceased relatives' tomb during the Qingming tomb sweeping festival period. The festival officially arrives next Wednesday, and most people are expected to finish sweeping tombs by then.

The Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau expects nearly 3 million people to head to nearby cemeteries this weekend to sweep tombs, and railway and bus authorities are preparing more trains and buses to deal with the travel boom.

Twenty-eight additional trains and 60 to 80 extra long-distance buses will head to Suzhou, Wuxi and Ningbo this weekend. Officials suggests that people not driving their own cars, especially during rush hours, should take one of the special tomb sweeping buses to avoid nasty traffic.

The city has also set up free buses to the race site for people who already have tickets. They will depart from Shanghai Hongkou Stadium, Shanghai Stadium and Pudong Yuanshen Sports Center between 9am and 12am, with return trips scheduled for the early evening.

Traffic will be restricted on some roads and highways this weekend due to the car race. About 50,000 people are expected to head to the Shanghai Grand Circuit to take in the racing action.

Police said highways leading to Jiangsu Province as well as roads between downtown and Jiading District will be very busy this weekend.

(Shanghai Daily April 1, 2006)