Trami Makes Landfall in China; Flooding Rain Continues in Taiwan

By Dan DePodwin, Meteorologist

August 21,2013; 8:42PM,EDT

 

 

Typhoon Trami will head inland over southeastern China, allowing the weather to improve in Taiwan after a battering of wind and rain.
The storm made landfall early Thursday morning, local time, in China's Fujian province. This moisture-laden system will bring another round of flooding rainfall to areas soaked by Utor last week, and by Typhoon Soulik earlier in the season.
Wind gusts topped 145 km/h (90 mph) in coastal sections of northern Taiwan and a gust to 200 km/h (124 mph) blasted the small northern island of Pengjiayu late Wednesday afternoon, the website of the Taiwan Central Weather Bureau indicated. Pengjiayu was in the direct path of Trami.
Numerous locations in Taiwan have been flooded by over 200 mm (8 inches) of rain. One spot in Taipei City had at least 605 mm (almost two feet) of rain. Mountain locations have fared even worse with many reports of over 400 mm (16 inches) of rain, including at least 651 mm (25.6 inches) in Jianshi Township as of Thursday morning, local time, the Weather Bureau website showed.

The torrential rainfall will lead to flooding in urban areas and mudslides in the mountainous regions. As with any tropical system, high winds can disrupt power and topple trees.
As the nasty weather in Taiwan winds down, Trami will continue to target southeastern China. Steered by an area of high pressure to the north, Trami swept ashore in a little south of Fuzhou, Fujian province, early on Thursday.
A large swath of 100-200 mm (4-8 inches) of rain is anticipated with lesser amounts far inland. As of Thursday morning, at least 220 mm (8.6 inches) of rain had already pelted the coastal city of Pingtan.
Unfortunately, this area was hit just last month by Typhoon Soulik. In fact, Trami's site of landfall near Fuzhou was almost the same location where Soulik swept on shore.
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AccuWeather Hurricane Center
While the heaviest rain should remain just north of areas flooded by Utor, any additional rainfall will hinder recovery efforts. Farther north, the persistent heat in Shanghai will be tempered a bit with more cloud cover and some showers.
AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist Jim Andrews contributed to the content of this story.