More than 6,000 passengers were delayed on Friday morning due to the downpours that hit Shuangliu International Airport in Chengdu, in southwest Sichuan Province, according to airport authorities.

From early Friday morning, storms pounded Chengdu and precipitation levels reached 41mm. Fourty-two flights have been delayed and another three have been canceled, said Lu Junming, a staff member at the airport.

Downpours will hit the northern part of Sichuan Basin from Friday to Sunday and the southeastern part of northwest China, according to the forecast released by the National Meteorological Center (NMC).