Tropical Storm Ewiniar to bring flooding rain to southern China

Tropical Storm Ewiniar will target southern China with potentially flooding rainfall over the next few days.

Tropical Depression 05W reached tropical storm status just off the coast of southern China on Wednesday morning local time.

Vietnam dodged the worst of Ewiniar as the storm tracked far enough east of the country that only a few downpours soaked central Vietnam.

This track brought the heaviest rainfall to Hainan Island and the neighboring coastline of southeast China where rainfall averaged 100-200 mm (4-8 inches) with local amounts up to 300 mm (12 inches) through Wednesday.

Seas will remain rough and dangerous for boaters across the South China Sea into Thursday as Ewiniar drifts toward the China coastline.

All residents from Hainan Island to Beihai and Guangzhou should be alert for travel disruption and flash flooding over the next few days.

Hong Kong and Macau could also face several rounds of downpours capable of producing flash flooding. Moisture from Ewiniar has already triggered thunderstorms across the area, and conditions will likely worsen on Thursday and Friday.

Despite Ewiniar remaining weak, the biggest concern is that the storm will move very slowly, which may lead to extreme rainfall totals and a widespread flood danger as some locations may see downpours for several straight days.

While Ewiniar is expected to dissipate quickly after moving inland across southeast China, moisture from the storm will be pulled northeastward later this week.

Downpours could target areas around Shanghai on Saturday before reaching South Korea Saturday night into Sunday.

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