According to the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, at 9:00 a.m. on September 23, the center of super typhoon No. 9 Ragasa was at about 20.1 degrees north latitude; 117.9 degrees east longitude, about 820km east of Zhou Peninsula (China). The strongest wind near the storm center is level 17 (202-221km/h), gusting over level 17.
Mr. Mai Van Khiem - Director of the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting - provided new comments on this storm.
Sir, is it forecasted that today (September 23), the intensity of super typhoon No. 9 Ragasa will change or not?
- Since Typhoon Ragasa became a super typhoon, from yesterday morning (September 22) to this morning (September 23, 2003) it has been more than 24 hours but still maintains a super typhoon level. The difference in cloud tops compared to the center of the storm is up to nearly 100 degrees Celsius.
With such a temperature difference, Ragasa is likely to continue to maintain strong winds of level 17 (184-220km/h) on September 23.
Super typhoon Ragasa is among the strongest storms to operate in the East Sea. Compared to Typhoon Yagi when active in the East Sea, Typhoon Ragasa is stronger in both wind intensity and low pressure index at the center of the storm.
In the coming days, there is a possibility of weak cold air flooding in, what interaction will the cold air have with super typhoon Ragasa, sir?
- In the north, there is a weak cold air mass moving towards our country. This cold air mass is characterized by dryness, relatively low humidity of about 30 - 40%.
Therefore, when super typhoon Ragasa moves west-northwest, approaching the Guangdong area (China), the northern circulation of the storm's eye will interact with the dry cold air mass, weakening storm No. 9.
Along with that, when approaching the mainland, interaction with terrain brings disrupted storm structure as well as significantly reduced energy supply for the storm.
Therefore, super typhoon Ragasa is forecast to gradually weaken over the next 24 hours.
Although super typhoon No. 9 Ragasa tends to weaken, what are the notable impacts of this storm, what warning do you have?
- First of all, there is a very strong impact of winds and very large waves in the northern sea area of the East Sea. Especially today, tomorrow, the wind speed may reach level 16 - 17, waves over 10m, dangerous for all ships including heavy-duty ships.
The operation of aquaculture vessels in the north of the Gulf of Tonkin is also very dangerous when there are wind impacts of level 10 - 12, gusts of level 13 - 14.
The phenomenon of thunderstorms before the storm has also occurred a lot in previous storms and is not excluded for Typhoon Ragasa, especially in the past few days the weather in the North has been hot and humid. This is a factor that can cause thunderstorms before the storm that people need to be on guard.
Regarding the impact of heavy rain, preliminary assessments show that Typhoon Ragasa is likely to cause widespread heavy rain in the North and North Central regions.
Of which, heavy rain in the North from the night of September 24 to 26 with common rainfall of 150-250mm, some places over 400mm. Therefore, there is a risk of urban flooding as well as flash floods and landslides in mountainous areas.
Sincerely thank you!
