Chan-hom May Target Shanghai, Taipei This Week

By Kristina Pydynowski, Senior Meteorologist

July 5,2015; 9:26PM,EDT

 

 

After blowing through Guam over the weekend with up to 304.8 mm (12 inches) of rain, Chan-hom has its eye set on intensification as it tracks toward Japan's Ryukyu Islands and eventually east-central China.
After achieving typhoon status, Chan-hom dramatically weakened last Friday due to disruptive wind shear. As that shear gradually lessens, Chan-hom will strengthen once again as it tracks to the northwest this week.

Conditions across Guam deteriorated Saturday night as Chan-hom crossed the island into early Sunday. Rainfall over the weekend averaged around 150 mm (6 inches), but some places received as much as 304.8 mm (12 inches). Wind gusts also reached up to 100 kph (65 mph) near Chan-hom's center.
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Heading into this week, Chan-hom will continue tracking to the northwest as the strengthening tropical system moves over the open Pacific Ocean between Guam and Japan.
The combination of very warm ocean waters and relatively low wind shear will provide a conducive environment for Chan-hom to strengthen with the potential for rapid intensification into a super typhoon during the first part of the week.
Strengthening into a very large and dangerous cyclone is expected regardless of whether or not super typhoon status is reached.

Due to the large size and expected strengthening, this system will be capable of producing life-threatening conditions within several hundred kilometers (miles) of its track.
Anyone from Shanghai to Taipei and Okinowa should continue to monitor the progress of Chan-hom for updates to potential impacts, as the latest indications point toward the Ryukyu Islands and eastern China facing the greatest risk for destructive winds, flooding rain and an inundating storm surge from Chan-hom later next week.
AccuWeather meteorologists will continue to provide more precise details in the upcoming days to help residents make necessary precautions to protect lives and property.
On the heels of Chan-hom is newly-formed Tropical Storm Nangka. This system will also track northwestward through the western Pacific Ocean, slightly more to the north of Chan-hom and strengthen in the process. Interests in the Northern Mariana Islands should be on alert for potential impacts around the middle of next week.
Meteorologists Adam Douty, Eric Leister and Anthony Sagliani contributed to this story.