Typhoon Yagi is the strongest storm recorded in Asia this year and the second strongest storm in the world to date after super typhoon Beryl.
Typhoon Yagi forms over warm ocean waters near the equator. As warm, moist air rises from the ocean surface, a lower air pressure area forms below. Air from surrounding areas with higher air pressure flows into this low pressure area, then rises and also becomes warm and moist.
As warm, moist air rises and cools, the water in the air forms clouds and thunderstorms. This entire cloud and wind system gains strength and momentum through the heat of the ocean and the evaporation of water from the ocean surface.
The weakest systems are tropical depressions. If a depression strengthens with maximum sustained winds of 63 km/h (40 mph), the system becomes a tropical storm, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Storms with winds of 119 km/h (73 mph) or higher are classified as typhoons or tropical storms.
Hurricane categories are determined by sustained wind speeds, measured on the Saffir-Simpson scale, which ranges from 1 to 5. While Category 1 hurricanes have winds between 75 and 95 mph (119 and 153 km/h), Category 5 hurricanes are the strongest, with winds of 155 mph (252 km/h) or higher. Hurricanes of Category 3 or higher are considered major hurricanes with the potential to cause significant damage.
Typhoon Yagi originated as a tropical storm in the western Philippine Sea on September 1. The following day, Typhoon Yagi made landfall in the Philippines and began to weaken. However, due to unusually warm waters in the South China Sea, Typhoon Yagi strengthened into a Category 3 typhoon. By September 4, Yagi had strengthened into a Category 3 typhoon.
By September 5, Yagi had become a Category 5 super typhoon, with maximum sustained winds of 260 km/h. Typhoon Yagi is one of four Category 5 typhoons recorded in the South China Sea, after Pamela in 1954, Rammasun in 2014 and Rai in 2021.
On September 6, Super Typhoon Yagi made landfall in China’s Hainan Province with winds of 223 km/h. The following day, Typhoon Yagi made landfall near Hai Phong and Quang Ninh in northern Vietnam, becoming one of the strongest typhoons to hit Vietnam in more than a decade.
After that, storm Yagi was downgraded to a tropical depression but still caused heavy rain and severe flooding in Vietnam as well as the countries it passed through, including Laos, Myanmar... Even last weekend, Indian media reported that the remnants of storm Yagi moving through the Bay of Bengal were likely to revive, strongly affecting the weather in the eastern region of India.
