Muifa becomes the strongest tropical cyclone in recorded history to impact Shanghai
High winds and heavy rain hit China’s east coast on Sept. 14. Hundreds of thousands of people were evacuated in Shanghai, and over 1 million people were were taken to shelters.
Muifa disrupted over 1.6 million people's lives on Wednesday as it approached China's Zhejiang Province and the global financial hub of Shanghai with intense rain bands and damaging winds. Residents across China's biggest city and the most populous urban hotspot were evacuated and placed in temporary shelters prior to the storm's landfall late Wednesday evening.
Muifa made landfall as a strong typhoon in Zhoushan around 8:30 p.m. local time on Wednesday and spread torrential downpours and fierce winds along the coastline. Muifa is also the 12th tropical system to impact China this year. As it shifted inland, the storm was equivalent to a Category 2 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.
People ride a scooter in the rain ahead of the approaching Typhoon Muifa in Taipei, Taiwan, Monday, Sept. 12, 2022. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)
Before reaching China, the typhoon made its first landfall over Japan's Ishigaki Island on Monday, Sept. 12. Ishigaki Island is part of the southern Ryukyu Islands, which was inundated by more than a foot of rainfall just over a week ago when Typhoon Hinnamnor, the strongest storm to roam the West Pacific basin and all other basins this season, tracked over the region.
Muifa churned over the southern Ryukyu Islands and brought days of drenching rainfall across Taiwan. From Saturday to Tuesday, a weather station in New Taipei City, located in the far northern portion of the island, received at least 23.19 inches (589 mm) from Muifa. Additional reports were sent in from Taiwan, including overflowed riverbanks and picnic items being swept away in high floodwaters.
On Tuesday, Typhoon Muifa slowly entered the East China Sea as the equivalent of a Category 2 hurricane and held onto that intensity until it arrived over land in eastern China.
Muifa made its arrival known near Hangzhou Bay Wednesday evening by slamming the coast with massive waves and bringing flooding rainfall across the Zhejiang Province. Significant disruptions occurred across the region as numerous flights were canceled and the shipping hub was brought to a standstill.
After Muifa's arrival along the coast of the Zhejiang Province, the storm made another landfall over Shanghai shortly after midnight with peak winds of 77 mph (124 km/h). Local news outlets are calling Muifa one of the most powerful typhoons to impact the Yangtze River Delta and Shanghai in recorded history.
AccuWeather Lead International Meteorologist Jason Nicholls said the storm was the most powerful on record in Shanghai as the typhoon's wind speeds surpassed Typhoon Gloria's in 1949.
Satellite view of Typhoon Muifa as the center of circulation approached the eastern coast of China (credit: NASA Earth Observatory).
Images circulated across social media on Thursday of scooters and vehicles underwater following the intense rainfall overnight. Officials announced numerous street closures in the city of Ningbo to the south of Shanghai, The Associated Press reported.
Throughout the early morning hours on Thursday, Muifa gradually transitioned to the equivalent of a tropical storm in the Atlantic basin before losing all tropical characteristics. No fatalities have been reported in China as of Friday.
As Muifa shifted north toward far western parts of the Yellow Sea on Thursday, flights resumed for regions south of Shanghai, and the hum of public transit slowly started to come back to life.
As AccuWeather accurately predicted, rainfall amounts recorded in Shanghai generally ranged between 3-6 inches (75-150 mm).
A stranded vehicle was stuck in the floodwaters brought by Typhoon Muifa in the Zhejiang Province of eastern China (Taizhou Public Security via Storyful).
In the wake of Muifa, the West Pacific basin remains active with powerful Typhoon Nanmadol bearing down on Japan. The storm is expected to bring significant rain and wind to the country into early next week.
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