Typhoon Bebinca - the 13th typhoon of the year in China and the strongest to hit Shanghai since 1949 - weakened into a tropical depression as it entered Henan province on the night of September 17.
Meanwhile, China's Fujian Province has activated a Level 4 emergency response since September 16 due to winds, heavy rains and high waves caused by Typhoon Pulasan. The third typhoon in September, Typhoon Pulasan formed in the northwest Pacific Ocean on the night of September 15 and had maximum winds of 65 km/h near the center of the storm.
The latest storm in the western Pacific Ocean is expected to move rapidly northwest at 55 to 60 kilometers per hour. Typhoon Pulasan is expected to maintain its intensity and head toward the East China Sea before making landfall along the coast of Zhejiang Province on September 19, according to the latest typhoon forecast in China.
Autumn storms are more common than usual this September, with Shanghai, Zhejiang and Jiangsu hit hard by Typhoon Bebinca while Hainan and Guangdong provinces are still recovering from Typhoon Yagi, a Chinese meteorological expert told China Daily.
Super typhoon Yagi and typhoon Bebinca have had significant impacts on China, with their intensity surpassing historical levels for this time of year, said Wang Qian, an expert at the China National Meteorological Center (NMC).
Typically, around 1 to 2 typhoons affect China between early and mid-September. However, with Typhoon Pulasan approaching, 3 typhoons are expected to affect China's coastal areas in September alone.
According to NMC experts, official Chinese data shows that since the beginning of this century, the intensity of typhoons hitting China has increased.
In its latest forecast, the NMC stated that Pulasan may follow a similar path to Bebinca and will impact Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai, China. However, due to the impact of cold air, Pulasan's path will be difficult to predict.
According to the latest storm report from the Global Times, China's coastal areas will see one to two more storms before October 1.
Similarly, weather.com.cn's typhoon forecast said that in the next 10 days before China's National Day holiday, one or two more typhoons are expected to form in the South China Sea and northwest Pacific, including one that is likely to affect China's southeastern coastal areas.
Ma Jun, director of the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs in Beijing, China, said that this summer, fewer typhoons hit mainland China than usual. However, in the fall, typhoons became stronger and their intensity increased, especially super typhoon Yagi and typhoon Bebinca, which had a major impact on major cities such as Haikou in Hainan Province and Shanghai.
According to long-term forecasts, there has been a trend of typhoons increasing in frequency and intensity in recent years. Chinese forecasters believe that this trend is due to rising global temperatures, which in turn leads to rising sea temperatures and ultimately increases the energy of typhoons.
