Tuesday, August 4, 2020

Hagupit lashes eastern China with flooding rain, strong winds as it creates rough seas

Updated Aug. 4, 2020 3:33 PM





Typhoon Hagupit crashed into eastern China on Monday night, sending flooding rainfall, strong wind gusts and storm surge into the region before eyeing the Shanghai region.

Hagupit, which quickly developed and strengthened into a severe tropical storm in the Philippine Sea over the weekend, became a typhoon on Monday, local time, with maximum sustained wind speeds of 138 km/h (85 mph). This is equivalent to a Category 1 hurricane in the Atlantic and East Pacific basins.

This satellite image captures Typhoon Hagupit approaching the eastern coast of China on Monday evening, local time. (Photo/CIRA RAMMB)

Hagupit tracked to the northwest into the East China Sea throughout the day on Monday, with the center passing just north of Taiwan. The outer rainbands that swept across the northern part of the country brought 50-100 mm (2-4 inches) of rain and gusty winds to the area throughout the day.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP

As the storm approached the China coast, officials evacuated residents in the vulnerable coastal areas in Zhejiang and Fujian provinces and recalled thousands of fishing boats, reported the Associated Press.

Hagupit maintained typhoon intensity as it made landfall near Wenzhou in Zhejiang, China, on Tuesday around 3:30 a.m., local time. At least 200,000 people were sheltering in evacuation centers in the coastal city.

Wave heights of 4.2 m (13.8 feet) were observed as Hagupit slammed into the coast.

Rainfall totals climbed to around 50-100 mm (2-4 inches) along the storms path in Zhejiang, China. Reports climbed even higher along where the center of Hagupit tracked; Rui'an reported 212 mm (8.33 inches) of rainfall, while 195 mm (7.68 inches) fell in Xianju.

Hagupit was downgraded to a severe tropical storm then a tropical storm throughout Tuesday and Tuesday night as it tracked north across eastern China.

As the storm passed just west of Shanghai through Tuesday night, it spread periods of heavy rain and wind gusts around 70 mph (45 mph) to the region.

Flash flooding will be likely along where Hagupit tracks as much of eastern China received historical rainfall through late May and into early July, the typical wet season for the area.

RELATED:

Hagupit is forecast to quickly lose intensity into Wednesday as it continues to track over the mountainous terrain of eastern China and is pulled north by a nontropical system over northern China.

This will bring tropical moisture into Korea where it can produce flooding downpours in an area that is still recovering from flash flooding and mudslides during the second half of July.

Hagupit was not the first storm to spring to life, ending the unusually quiet period across the West Pacific tropical basin.

Sinlaku was the first tropical system to develop last week, organizing into a tropical storm over the South China Sea. The storm brought heavy rainfall, gusty winds and rough seas to southern China, Vietnam and Loas through the weekend.

As Tropical Rainstorm Sinlaku reaches the Bay of Bengal, it is expected reorganize into a monsoon low, enhancing rainfall across northeast India, Bangladesh and Myanmar into the middle of the week.

Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Man missing at sea for nearly 2 weeks found alive in life raft off Washington coast

  One of two men missing at sea for nearly two weeks was found alive on Thursday by a Canadian fishing boat in a life raft in Canadian water...