A series of intense typhoons and tropical storms, worsened by the current El Niño weather pattern, has struck parts of East Asia in recent months, causing deaths, mass evacuations, flight cancellations and infrastructure damage, the BBC reported. Equatorial Pacific sea surface temperatures hit 4C above normal, a record high dating back to when measurements began in 1949, eclipsing the prior record of 3.6C from December 1997.
Typhoon Champi, carrying winds of 295km/h and classified as equivalent to a category five hurricane, approached Taiwan's north-eastern coast in October, though it did not make landfall. Champi's approach caused hundreds of flight cancellations across Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan, cut power to 15,000 homes in Okinawa, and closed coastal roads in the Philippines' Batanes archipelago. Using the Accumulated Cyclone Energy metric, South East and East Asia's storm season total this year is projected to reach nearly double the 30-year average.
Under El Niño conditions this season, typhoons are forming further east than usual and intensifying more rapidly because they remain over warm water for longer periods. In June, Typhoon Mekkhala and Severe Tropical Storm Higos moved simultaneously toward Japan's eastern coast, prompting evacuation of one million people.
In July, Tropical Storm Narra moved along China's southern Guangxi coast, flooding villages and displacing tens of thousands of people. Super Typhoon Dolphin spent 16 days crossing the Pacific before striking eastern China in August, triggering heavy floods and dozens of casualties.
Manila-based climatologist Rafaela Jane Delfino, writing on the University of the Philippines website, said her research simulating warmer conditions on past Philippine storms produced findings she described as very, very scary, with higher temperatures increasing total accumulated rainfall by 26%. Ana Liza Solis, who heads climatology at the Philippines' national weather bureau, described the Pacific at a Manila press briefing in September as being like a fever patient, adding that convulsions could follow. The World Meteorological Organisation has issued a prediction that the present El Niño will continue into early 2027.
Smartraveller has advised travellers that severe weather and emergency measures may limit movement and activities in affected destinations. The agency urged travellers to obtain comprehensive travel insurance while checking whether policies exclude natural disasters, as some do.
Official statements: Smartraveller
Reporting: BBC
Background: The Guardian, CNA
Written by Pick & Scroll News from the reporting and documents linked above.
