Soudelor Weakens But Continues to Inundate China

By Kristina Pydynowski, Senior Meteorologist

August 8,2015; 9:50PM,EDT

 

 

Soudelor has weakened to a tropical storm, but will continue to endanger lives across eastern China through the first part of the new week.
At least six people died and 101 others were injured as a result of the typhoon in Taiwan, according to The Associated Press. Among the dead are an 8-year old girl and her mother who were swept out to sea on Thursday.

TIMELAPSE: Typhoon Soudelor As Seen From Space

Soudelor slammed into Taiwan's Hualien County early Saturday morning local time (late Friday afternoon EDT), accompanied by destructive winds, extremely heavy rainfall and pounding surf.
Soudelor then made its final landfall early Saturday night (late Saturday morning EDT) near the coastal city of Quanzhou with its strength equal to that of Category 1 hurricane.
Interaction with land has since caused Soudelor to weaken to a tropical storm with further weakening to a tropical depression expected by the end of Sunday.The damaging wind threat will lessen as Soudelor continues to weakens, but the risk of flooding rain will be slower to follow suit.

High Winds, Rain Batter Taiwan as Soudelor Makes Landfall

Flooding rain continues to inundate the provinces of Fujian and Zhejiang. Rainfall will top 200 mm (8 inches) in many communities with more than 300 mm (a foot) in the higher terrain, where mudslides are a concern.
In addition to Fujian Province, "isolated damaging winds will still be possible in Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Anhui and Jiangsu provinces," stated AccuWeather Meteorologist Eric Leister.
Widespread rain amounts from 100 to 200 mm (4 to 8 inches) will occur northeastward to Taizhou and northward to near Hefei and then arcing to Linyi. Flash flooding and mudslides will accompany the heavy rain along this path. The highest rain totals will be measured in the higher elevations.
"East of where Soudelor tracks will also be at risk for isolated tornadoes," stated AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alan Reppert.

The heaviest rain will bypass both Hong Kong and Shanghai. Hong Kong will remain on the dry and hot side of the storm through this weekend. The city broke its all-time record high of 36.1 C (97.0 F) from Aug. 18, 1990, on Saturday when temperatures soared to 36.3 C (97.3 F). Record keeping in Hong Kong began in 1884, with a gap in coverage during World War II.
Early in the new week, moisture wrapping into the storm could lead to a heavy thunderstorm.
The outermost rain bands of Soudelor will also graze Shanghai during the second half of this weekend. While widespread issues are not expected, localized flash flooding cannot be ruled out.

After impacting eastern China through early in the new week, Soudelor will then join with a non-tropical system to spread heavy rain into South Korea and a part of Japan at midweek.
Heavy rain has been the theme with Soudelor since it began bearing down on Taiwan and then proceeded to China.
In the 24 hours ending Saturday night local time, an observation site in the Wencheng District of Zhejiang Province was inundated with 420.2 mm (16.54 inches) of rain, according to Weather China. Winds gusted to 131 kph (82 mph) at Fuzhou, China.
Before reaching China, a wind gust of nearly 130 mph was recorded at Su'ao on the northeast coast of Taiwan. A wind gust of over 140 mph occurred in the southernmost Ryukyu Islands of Japan.
RELATED:
PHOTOS: Soudelor Batters Saipan
China Weather Center
AccuWeather Typhoon Center
A mountain top in Datong Township in Yilan County was inundated with 1,303 mm (51.3 inches of rain). In Taipei, Soudelor unleashed 306 mm (a foot) of rain and winds gusted to 141 kph (87 mph).
Heavy rain continues to stream across Taiwan with the heaviest rain focusing on southern areas. Additional flash flooding and mudslides will result, especially along the southwest-facing mountains.
The rain will gradually taper off through Sunday local time as Soudelor tracks farther to the north in eastern China.

A street corner is filled with a mangled rooftop brought down by strong winds from Typhoon Soudelor in Taipei, Taiwan, Saturday, Aug. 8, 2015. (AP Photo/Wally Santana)
Prior to targeting Taiwan and China, the center of Soudelor passed directly over the island of Saipan to the north of Guam with Category 2 hurricane-force winds on Sunday night.
Winds to near 170 kph (105 mph) were reported on Saipan as the eyewall of Soudelor passed over the island. Guam to the south was largely spared any damaging winds as gusts reached 50 to 65 kph (30 to 40 mph) for several hours.
Soudelor rapidly intensified on Monday after departing Saipan, becoming a super typhoon and reaching the equivalent of a Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic or Eastern Pacific basins. Soudelor reached peak intensity late Monday with winds near 290 kph (180 mph) making it the strongest tropical cyclone anywhere on the planet so far this year.