Dolphin Weakens After Landfall as Flooding Hits Eastern China

The storm carried maximum sustained winds of 65 kilometers per hour that morning while continuing to weaken. Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration provided the wind data. The China Meteorological Administration reported that Dolphin was moving northwest at 15 to 20 kilometers per hour and would likely dissipate after further weakening over land.

State broadcaster CCTV reported that teams in Yueqing city within Zhejiang searched for people trapped in flooded homes and cleared broken branches from streets. The system had made landfall in nearby Taizhou on August 9 with winds of 151 kilometers per hour after earlier bringing heavy rain to northern Taiwan. Such rapid weakening is typical once tropical cyclones move inland from the coast.

Pre-landfall precautions included the relocation of more than 300,000 residents and the cancellation of more than 1,300 flights at Shanghai’s two airports. The Associated Press noted these steps helped limit immediate disruption from the heavy rainfall that followed. Local officials focused resources on urban drainage and rural landslide-prone zones.

Dolphin also intensified seasonal monsoon rains in the Philippines, where floods and landslides were reported. The storm’s path across the Taiwan Strait contributed to widespread moisture transport. Regional weather patterns often link such systems to broader precipitation events across East Asia.

Separately, Tropical Storm Chan-hom approached Japan’s Pacific coast with winds of 83 kilometers per hour on August 10. The Japan Meteorological Agency forecast slight strengthening before its expected landfall between Tuesday and Wednesday. This activity reflects the ongoing western Pacific typhoon season that typically peaks in late summer.

A study published in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society found that tropical cyclones caused an average of 472 deaths per year in China between 1983 and 2006, with direct economic losses averaging 28.7 billion yuan adjusted to 2006 values. Researchers noted that Zhejiang province consistently recorded the highest losses among affected areas due to its exposure and economic density. A separate 2022 analysis in Scientific Reports projected that future typhoon-related economic losses in coastal provinces could rise significantly under changing climate conditions.