Muifa reaches China with heavy rain, gusty winds pushing into Shanghai
Just over one week after absorbing a punishing strike from Typhoon Hinnamnor, Japan's Ryukyu Islands sustained another brutal blow from a typhoon early this week -- Muifa. After pounding portions of Japan, Taiwan and coastal areas of eastern China, AccuWeather forecasters say that Muifa is tracking northeastward toward far northeastern China as a tropical storm.
Muifa made landfall on Wednesday as a strong typhoon around Zhoushan around 8:30 p.m., local time, dropping torrential rainfall along the coast as it swirled inland. At the time of landfall, it was equivalent to a Category 2 hurricane on the Saffir Simpson Wind Scale for Hurricanes.
Muifa then crossed Hangzhou Bay before making a second landfall in the Fengxian district of Shanghai just after midnight local time.
Muifa is the latest in a series of organized tropical systems to develop in the West Pacific basin in the past few weeks and initially formed in the open waters of the Philippine Sea last Thursday.
Officials in Ningbo, Zhejiang, issued a Level III Emergency Response after severe flooding due to Muifa, increasing flood control response after local reservoirs exceeded the flood limit water level.
 |
The hits just kept coming for Japan's Ryukyu Islands, a chain of islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu, the southernmost of Japan's main islands, to Taiwan.
Muifa began to bear down on the Ryukyu Islands last weekend and unleashed multiple days of torrential rainfall. In just under 48 hours, multiple reporting stations in the Ryukyu Islands recorded nearly a foot (300 mm) of rain as Muifa unloaded on the area. Since the weekend, locations such as Ishigakijima recorded 11.93 inches (303 mm) while Yonagunijima observed 12.95 inches (320 mm) of rainfall from Muifa.
The highest wind gusts recorded in the Yaeyama Islands, Okinawa Prefecture, late on September 12 were 90 mph (40.4 m/s) at Iriomotejima Island and 89 mph (40.2 m/s) at Ishigakijima Island, which also recorded an astounding 11.30 inches (287 mm) of rain. Hateruma, however, recorded the most rain by Monday evening, with just over 14 inches (356 mm) in 24 hours.
 |
AccuWeather Radar imagery captures Typhoon Muifa east of Taiwan on the evening of Sept. 13, 2022. |
Muifa's rain came after the region was already soaked, with almost no time to recover. Early last week, the island chain endured a swath of torrential rainfall and damaging winds as Typhoon Hinnamnor, the strongest storm to roam the West Pacific basin and all other basins this season, moved at a snail's pace over the region.
Heavy rainfall from Muifa even drenched portions of nearby Taiwan over the weekend into early this week. From Saturday to Tuesday, 23.19 inches (589 mm) of rain inundated a reporting station in New Taipei City, located in the far northern portion of the country.
 |
People walk in the rain ahead of the approaching Typhoon Muifa in Taipei, Taiwan, Monday, Sept. 12, 2022. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying) |
Days of torrential rainfall led to at least one harrowing situation in New Taipei City when a river overflowed its banks this weekend. Frightening video from the scene demonstrated just how quickly floodwaters can rise as tents, grills and other picnic equipment were swept away while people quickly fled to safety.
AccuWeather Meteorologists say that Muifa has begun to pick up forward speed on Wednesday, local time, as it tracks to the northwest and approaches eastern China.
China's biggest city and major shipping hub of Shanghai is likely to be in the path of Muifa, with heavy rain and some gusty winds expected. The storm can bring a general 3-6 inches (75-150 mm) of rain to Shanghai late this week, according to AccuWeather Lead International Forecaster Jason Nicholls.
Rainfall of this magnitude can be enough to cause flooding issues around Shanghai, especially in low-lying or heavily-urbanized areas.
On Wednesday, at least 150 passenger ferry boats were suspended along the coast of Zhejiang, China, in preparation for Typhoon Muifa's arrival. Roughly 7,400 merchant ships halted travel to take shelter along the coast as well, according to CNN.
Numerous airports in China began to cancel all flights on Wednesday ahead of Muifa, including Pudong, Hongqiao, Zoushan and Ningbo airports. The Hangzhou airport to the southwest of Shanghai announced that they would cancel flights scheduled to depart Wednesday evening, local time, reported Reuters.
Approximately 13,000 people have been evacuated so far from nearby islands and towns near Zhoushan, announced state television.
If there is any silver lining with Muifa's forecast track and intensity, forecasters say that the storm's wind speeds are not expected to become as strong as Hinnamnor's did when it was a super typhoon.
The cooling of ocean waters by the recent passage of Hinnamnor, a process known as upwelling, is expected to limit the overall intensity of Muifa.
While Muifa is not expected to become as strong as Hinnamnor due to limiting factors that it will encounter in the basin, the slow pace of the storm could prove catastrophic -- regardless of category.
Muifa's rather slow pace across the southern Ryukyu islands has caused persistent heavy rain.
"Saturated ground and weakened structures following Hinnamnor mean the damages caused by Muifa may exceed what is typical for the storm's actual intensity," added Nicholls.
Want next-level safety, ad-free? Unlock advanced, hyperlocal severe weather alerts when you subscribe to Premium+ on the AccuWeather app. AccuWeather Alerts™ are prompted by our expert meteorologists who monitor and analyze dangerous weather risks 24/7 to keep you and your family safer.
