A?citizen walks in a thunderstorm in Wuhan, capital city of central China's Hubei province, on Thursday, June 9, 2011.

Wuhan, capital city of central China's Hubei province, saw its first summer thunderstorm on Thursday night, which helps to ease the lingering drought, the local news portal Cnhubei.com reports.

Following a shower on Thursday morning, the thunderstorm started at 8 pm and lasted for an hour. According to the local weather authorities 32.8 mm fell in an hour. The 300-million-ton of rain water almost equals that of two and half times the volume of Wuhan's East Lake, the biggest lake inside the city.

The thunderstorm and earlier rainfall at the beginning of June are expected to help ease the province's drought. The drought has been ongoing since the autumn, making it the worst in the province in 50 years.