China to see unusually active typhoon season after Bavi passes
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China largely avoided the extreme rain and floods that some models had predicted as Bavi approached the country late last week.
PHOTO: EPA
- China may face a stronger and more frequent typhoon season this summer, with up to six tropical cyclones expected to hit, mainly affecting southern and eastern coastal areas.
- Typhoon Bavi struck China's east coast on July 11, bringing heavy rain but no widespread flooding as earlier feared, dissipating quickly overland.
- The storm moved faster and slightly northward, reducing extreme flooding risks, though its remnants are expected to bring heavy rain to northeastern provinces through July 15.
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BEIJING – China may encounter stronger and more frequent tropical cyclones over the summer months, according to the national climate agency, even after Typhoon Bavi faded at the weekend without causing the widespread flooding that some forecasters had feared.
In its latest midsummer outlook, the National Climate Center forecast that as many as six tropical cyclones would hit China this summer, a higher number than average.
These storms “are expected to be strong overall” and to affect mainly coastal areas of southern and eastern China, the agency said.
It did not specify whether its outlook, published last week, included Bavi.
The typhoon struck China’s east coast late on July 11 and dissipated quickly overland, bringing heavy rain to some parts of Zhejiang and Hebei provinces, as well as parts of Beijing.
Remnants of the storm are expected to bring heavy downpours to the north-eastern provinces of Liaoning and Jilin through the morning of July 15, according to a forecast from the National Meteorological Center.
The country, however, largely avoided the extreme rain and floods that some models had predicted as Bavi approached the country late last week.
“Fortunately, the worst-case flooding scenario did not materialise,” said James Caron, director of meteorological operations for North America and Asia at Atmospheric G2.
“The primary reason appears to be that the storm tracked slightly farther north and moved inland a bit faster than some of the earlier guidance had suggested.”
That dynamic reduced the amount of time that Bavi’s deepest tropical moisture remained over the same areas, limiting the potential for back-to-back thunderstorms that can produce the most extreme flooding, Caron added. BLOOMBERG
