Dangerous Typhoon Utor Targets China After Slamming Philippines

By Kristina Pydynowski, Senior Meteorologist

August 12,2013; 5:20PM,EDT

 

 

Typhoon Utor crossed Luzon Island on Monday, dumping heavy rain and causing wind damage in some areas.
Utor slammed into the Philippines near the Casapsapan Bay early on Monday morning local time (Sunday afternoon EDT) as a powerful typhoon.

The image above is a satellite picture taken early on Monday afternoon, local time, as Utor emerged into the South China Sea. Image courtesy of NOAA.
Utor was upgraded to a super typhoon on Sunday night local time when a distinctive eye developed on satellite imagery. Prior to Utor making landfall, AccuWeather.com meteorologists concluded that Utor had undergone some weakening and lost its super typhoon status.
The system weakened somewhat as it moved over the high terrain of western Luzon, but satellite imagery showed the storm becoming somewhat better organized on Monday afternoon as it emerged off the coast and back into open water.
At least two people have died and 44 more remain missing across the northern Philippines in the wake of Typhoon Utor, according to The Associated Press. One man who died was buried by a mudslide, while the other was trying to rescue his livestock from flood waters.
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Manila escaped the worst of Utor, but did see some wind and rain from the storm.
The brunt of the storm was focused farther north as the cities of Dagupan and and Baguio recorded over 7.5 inches (190 mm).

Utor will continue to move across the South China Sea, and track toward southeastern China, with a second landfall expected at midweek.
AccuWeather.com Expert Senior Meteorologist Jason Nicholls cautions, "These areas were hit hard by Mangkhut last week and Jebi the week prior. Another round of nasty weather from Utor is on the table."
With Utor, mudslides can occur with the heavy rainfall, strong wind gusts can damage infrastructure, and large waves are likely as the storm moves onshore a second time. Some parts of southern China into Vietnam have seen over a foot of rain the past two weeks from other tropical systems, so this will only act to increase the flooding threat.
Updated most recently by AccuWeather.com Meteorologist Eric Leister.