Tropical Storm Kalmaegi On Course to Strike Shanghai

by TyphoonHunter | July 19, 2008 at 02:02 am

2778 views | 43 Recommendations | 17 comments

UPDATE #3: Typhoon Kalmaegi tore through Taiwan yesterday unleashing torrential rains and ferocious winds over 90 miles per hour. The BBC are reporting six people killed and four more are missing. The storm went on to make landfall over the eastern Chinese province of Fujian.

The Japanese Meteorological Agency (JMA) has downgraded the Kalmaegi to tropical storm strength with sustained winds of 35 knots gusting to 50 knots. The storm is expected to hit Shanghai in the next few hours.

The storm is expected to intensify slightly when is crosses back into the East China Sea and it could go on to affect the Korean peninsula in the next couple of days. Kalmaegi means sea gull in Korean.

Below is the previous entry:

Typhoon Kalmaegi has continued to strengthen and is heading towards to the north of Taiwan with winds gusting up to 120 miles per hour.

Kalmaegi is currently about 150 nautical miles southeast of Taipei and is moving north northwest at 13 miles per hour. Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau has issued land and sea warnings as the storm moves closer to shore. Kalmaegi means sea gull in Korean.

JMA forecast Kalmaegi to continue to move northwards and it could impact the east coast of China from tomorrow afternoon onwards. There is still some uncertainty into what affect the storm will have on China depending on whether it makes landfall on Taiwan or not. This is the 7th storm of the 2008 Pacific typhoon season. Last month typhoon Fengshen tore through the central Philippines before making a direct hit on Hong Kong as a tropical storm.

Every year typhoons regularly strike the nations straddling the northwest Pacific Ocean.

This is a developing situation and at present it is unclear as to the potential impact this storm may have on the Philippines, Taiwan and China. I will provide updates as often as possible.

For more information please consult the following websites.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/default.stm - BBC news article

http://www.jma.go.jp/en/typh/ - JMA typhoon forecast page

www.cwb.gov.tw - Taiwan Central Weather Bureau

www.typhoonfury.com - Website with photos and videos of current and previous high impact storms.

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Vinny

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 06:44 on July 15th, 2008

TyphoonHunter, I like this story. It's good stuff.

TyphoonHunter

at 06:51 on July 15th, 2008

Thanks Vinnie. Late here so off to bed now but I'll post more updates tomorrow. The storm has strengthened slightly and is due to start its march northwards at any moment. Taiwan and China watch out!

Vinny

at 07:01 on July 15th, 2008

Get a good nights sleep I look forward to your updates as always.

Rachel Nixon

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 06:57 on July 15th, 2008

TyphoonHunter, I like this story. It's good stuff.

PEP

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 07:47 on July 15th, 2008

TyphoonHunter, great stuff, as always.

y.s.

at 08:14 on July 15th, 2008

Thanks for keeping us up-to-date on the situation.

link

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 08:16 on July 15th, 2008

TyphoonHunter, I like this story. It's good stuff.

Amy Judd

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 09:45 on July 15th, 2008

TyphoonHunter, I like this story. It's good stuff.

Good report - thanks.

ghost seeker (not verified)

at 05:56 on July 16th, 2008

I'm watchin this close since I'm in South Korea (western side, about 45 miles south of Seoul). Thanks for the info!

TyphoonHunter

at 06:15 on July 16th, 2008

Thanks guys. Kalmaegi is up to 55kts sustained now with higher gusts and is due to become a typhoon in the next 24 hours whilst to the east of Taiwan. This could well pass close to Shanghai so I'll naturally being keeping a very close eye on how this develops.

TyphoonHunter

at 06:34 on July 17th, 2008

Typhoon Kalmaeigi has just made landfall on Taiwan near the town of Suao with sustained winds of 70kts. I imagine the people of northern Taiwan will have the morning off work as the storm moves north over the top of the island and head onward to eastern China.

Vinny

at 06:42 on July 17th, 2008

Thanks for the updates and the breaking news about the landfall TyphoonHunter, a great job as always.

TyphoonHunter

at 20:56 on July 18th, 2008

Sorry about the lack of updates after landfall. I've been very busy with work.

Apparently up to 8 people killed in Taiwan. The storm is approaching Shanghai now as a weakened tropical storm. I'll try and get an updated published this evening

TyphoonHunter

at 21:19 on July 18th, 2008

Just uploaded a very quick update.

Jordan Yerman

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 06:05 on July 19th, 2008

Thanks for the update, 'Hunter. I'm bringing this story current as well. The death toll has apparently increased:

Thousands of workers continued search and rescue operations on Saturday after Tropical Storm Kalmaegi wreaked havoc across Taiwan, leaving 15 people dead and 10 missing, officials said.

The casualties from floods and mudslides were reported in worst-hit central and southern Taiwan, where up to 950 millimetres (37 inches) of rain fell in less than two days, said the National Fire Agency.

Rhonda J Mangus

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 09:35 on July 19th, 2008

TyphoonHunter, I like this story. It's good stuff.

TyphoonHunter

at 19:13 on July 19th, 2008

Thanks for the messages guys and that update Jordan.

The storm rolled through Shanghai last night and only brought a bit of rain and wind. Shanghai got off luckily at the expense of Taiwan and Fujian.I won't be posting any more updates on this unless a major incident in the aftermath occurs.