China suspends trains, closes schools as typhoons approach

Throughout the current Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) 5-day forecast, Nangka is not expected to impact any inhabited islands, though it is possible that the US Commonwealth island of Saipan may experience tropical storm force winds later in the week if Nangka’s track shifts southwards.

Beijing, July 7: almost 10,000 people have been evacuated from China’s eastern province of Fujian as it braces for the landfall of two typhoons, Linfa and Chan-Hom, Xinhua news agency reported.

The tropical Pacific has come alive, and the threats extend from China to Hawaii. It has sustained winds of 108kph, with maximum sustained winds of 137kph, the bureau said. It was expected to pass north of Guam.

The El Niño event is bringing much above average ocean temperatures to a broad area of the tropical Pacific Ocean, roughly from the global dateline eastward to South America, though there are some areas of above average water temperatures all the way west toward The Philippines. When it passed over Typhoon Nangka on July 7 from 17:54 to 19:26 UTC (1:54 to 3:26 p.m. EDT), it gathered data on sustained winds. Linfa’s rain bands have already reached southeast China on Tuesday.

The effect refers to the tendency of two nearby storms to orbit each other, spiral into a point between them and eventually merge, meteorologist Wu Teh-jung (吳德榮) said.

The super Typhoon is currently equivalent to a category 4 hurricane, with wind speeds of 145mph and gusts up to 175mph! As this storm moves to the west-northwest the next several days it could possibly grow to category 5 storm by Thursday.

The powerful storm could then head towards Japan early next week although forecasts and uncertain at this stage.

Linfa made landfall in the north of the island on Saturday and was about 85 miles southwest of Laoag City in Luzon’s far north on Monday. Linfa is expected to hit Taiwan and coastal China soon and weaken gradually.

Meanwhile, after Guangdong issued a yellow alert for Linfa, elementary and middle schools in 15 counties have been closed.