Deadly Typhoon Utor Moving Closer to Southeast China

By Kristina Pydynowski, Senior Meteorologist

August 13,2013; 8:32PM,EDT

 

 

Typhoon Utor continues to churn the water across the South China Sea Tuesday night, local time, as it heads toward southeast China.
Utor slammed into the Philippines near the Casapsapan Bay early on Monday morning local time (Sunday afternoon EDT) as a powerful typhoon.
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 image above is a satellite picture taken early on Tuesday afternoon, local time, as Utor moved across the South China Sea. Image courtesy of NOAA.
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 four people have died and more remain missing across the northern Philippines in the wake of Typhoon Utor, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council. The deaths included a man who was buried by a mudslide, a man who was trying to rescue his livestock from flood waters and two people that drown in flash flooding.
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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 Baguio recorded over 7.5 inches (190 mm).

Utor will continue to move across the South China Sea toward southeastern China, with a second landfall expected Wednesday afternoon.
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.

Rainfall of 6-12 inches will be possible along and near the track of Utor with wind gusts greater than 75 mph, especially near and just inland from where Utor makes landfall.
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.