China's meteorological departments have delivered proactive and tailored meteorological services by initiating early warnings and multi-departmental collaborations ahead of typhoon impacts.

Through advanced technologies like satellite remote sensing, radar networks, and UAV observations, they achieved real-time monitoring of typhoon paths and intensities.

Tailored services, like the "31631" progressive service mechanism, ensured timely dissemination of early warnings to communities and industries.

These efforts significantly reduced risks, safeguarding lives and properties during typhoon events of this year which landed in China.

Let's take a closer look.

Typhoon Fung-wong

Since November 5, Zhejiang Provincial Meteorological Service has reported meteorological information to the Provincial Government on multiple occasions. On November 10, the Service activated a level-four emergency response for the typhoon and delivered round-the-clock meteorological services and meanwhile collaborated with departments such as transportation, maritime affairs, and agriculture and rural affairs to conduct consultations and assess risks. The meteorological departments of Zhejiang carried out typhoon structure and offshore gale monitoring based on multi-source data, utilizing FENGYUN meteorological satellite sea surface wind speed monitoring products and refined radar network mosaic products to precisely depict the wind field. They also employed wind profiler radars and cloud radars to "capture" low-level jets, providing numerous products to enhance forecasting and services.

On November 11, to respond to the impacts of Fung-wong, a large number of fishing boats were neatly moored in various fishing ports in Shitang Town, Wenling, Taizhou, Zhejiang. Photoed by XU Weijie

Typhoon Wutip

Since June 12, affected by Typhoon Wutip, rainstorm to torrential rain and locally extremely downpour have occurred in eastern Guangxi, China. 

Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Regional Meteorological Service reinforced communication and interactions with other departments. Meteorological departments across Guangxi have called and alerted more than 4,000 primary-level emergency responders via telephone and “Shanxin”messages.

Beihai and Nanning have carried out Beidou Drifting Sounding and intensive sounding, utilizing real-time observation data from manned aircraft, dropped sounding, weather radar, and wind profile radar of Hong Kong Observatory to achieve comprehensive and coordinated observation of long-distance  precise typhoon early warning and close-range observation.

From June 11 to 15, various departments across Guangxi have issued 472 early warning text messages through the Guangxi Emergency Early Warning Information Release System, with 76.02 million recipients. Loudspeakers were harnessed to release warnings 31,200 times.

Guangxi emergency response decision-making assistance system Source: The Service

Typhoon Danas

No. 4 typhoon of this year, Typhoon Danas is characterized by wide-range influence in terms of wind and rain, a large amount of rainfall during the weather process, and a long duration on land.

On the night of July 8, Danas made landfall successively in Dongtou, Wenzhou and Rui'an, bringing wind and rain to many areas in Zhejiang.

Meteorological departments of Zhejiang promptly reported the movement and the impacts of wind and rain to the provincial government, and teamed up with provincial departments such as emergency management, water conservancy, natural resources, culture and tourism, transportation, and agriculture and rural affairs to enhance monitoring, forecasting and early warning services.

Guided by meteorological warnings, all coastal marine engineering projects in Wenzhou, Taizhou, and Ningbo were suspended, and all operating vessels returned to ports for shelter. With peak island tourism season underway, Pingyang County Meteorological Office in Wenzhou issued an offshore gale forecast, county-wide refined risk warnings, and decision-making recommendations on July 5. Besides, on July 6, Nanji Town government, Wenzhou Aojiang Maritime Safety Administration, and Pingyang Communications Investment Group (CIG) Port Company activated contingency plans, organizing safe and orderly evacuation of 1,304 tourists from scenic areas including Nanji Island. All ferry services to Nanji were suspended the following day.

FY-4B/GHI visible-light panchromatic cloud image at around 07:00 on July 9

Typhoon Wipha

In response to Typhoon Wipha, Guangdong Provincial Meteorological Service promptly issued 5,540 town-level warning signals of rainstorm, thunderstorms and gale to the emergency responsible persons at the provincial, municipal, county and town levels, among which 3,200 were for rainstorm. A total of 14 red warning signals of rainstorm and thunderstorms with gale were issued, involving 27 towns and sub-districts. 248 people successfully responded with alert and response mechanism, 59,317 text messages to responsible persons were sent, and 1,211 flash messages were sent.

Take Xinhui as an example. Before the arrival of Typhoon Wipha, Xinhui District Meteorological Office, Jiangmen, delivered meteorological services at ferry crossings and fishing ports. It promptly released 17 meteorological warning and forecast information through WeChat groups, text messages and other channels, reaching 765 people.

The "31631" progressive meteorological service mechanism initiated by Guangdong Provincial Meteorological Service

Typhoon Co-may

From July 29 to 30, under the technical guidance of the National Meteorological Centre (NMC) of China Meteorological Administration (CMA), the National Satellite Meteorological Centre (NSMC) of CMA, the National Meteorological Information Centre (NMIC) of CMA, and CMA Meteorological Observation Centre (MOC), meteorological departments of Shanghai, Zhejiang, and Jiangsu conducted integrated observation and forecasting operational experimentin terms of the track, intensity, and wind-rain impacts of Typhoon Co-may. 

The experiment achieved intensified radiosonde observations at five stations, explored a demonstrative experiment of integrated operations combining "mobile + fixed" observations with numerical weather prediction (NWP), promoted the optimization of key technologies and their effectiveness evaluations, and accumulated experience for regional collaborative disaster prevention and mitigation.

The meteorological department has deployed a laser wind lidar in the Lingang area to conduct the integrated observation and forecasting operational experiment. Photoed by DAI Yufan

Typhoon Podul

At 13:00 on August 13, Typhoon Podul slammed ashore near Taimali Township in Taitung County, Taiwan, with its 45-metre-per-second eyewall whipping the coastline with ferocious swells and torrential rain.

In the NMC of CMA, chief forecasters fed an ensemble of new data streams into machine-learning "typhoon-intensity" algorithms and conducted joint weather consultation with meteorological departments of Shanghai, Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangdong to diagnose the track and impacts of Typhoon Podul.

The NSMC of CMA fused FENGYUN-4B high-resolution visible and infrared imagery with FY-3G’s three-dimensional (3D) precipitation radar and FY-3E's surface-wind scatterometer，taking on a cloud-to-ocean,  view updated every ten minutes.

Image captured by FY meteorological satellites Source: NSMC

The National Meteorological Information Centre (NMIC) of CMA churned out real-time grids of maximum wind, sea-surface temperature and ocean heat content. Vortex-initialization routines nudged the typhoon centre within each model cycle to within a 2-kilometer margin of error.

CMA Meteorological Observation Centre (MOC) compiled radar composites from 140 sites under the "Tianheng-Tianyan" framework, cross-checking forecasts against live wind-radar data while remotely diagnosing instrument health across the entire emergency zone.

Typhoon Tapah

This year's No. 16 Typhoon "Tapah" made landfall along the coastal area of Taishan City, Guangdong Province, around 8:50 a.m. on September 8. At 08:55, a Haiyan I-type unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) took off from the Bo'ao national UAV Meteorological Observation Experimental Base in Hainan. It released 8 radiosondes, collected over 16,000 pieces of data, and completed the full-lifecycle observation of  "Tapah".

From September 6 to 8, Haiyan UAV-equipped with an airborne dropsonde sounding system and a cloud-measuring radar-completed three consecutive observation flights. Among these flights, it conducted two consecutive coordinated observation flights with a manned aircraft from the Hong Kong Observatory, targeting the same observation objective but operating in different regions and at different times. A total of 19 dropsondes were released, yielding over 36,000 pieces of direct observation data. This data was uploaded in real-time to the "Tianqing" meteorological big data cloud platform, providing direct observational materials for conducting typhoon track forecasting and structural analysis research.

On September 7, the Guangzhou Institute of Tropical and Marine Meteorology of CMA optimized and adjusted the forecast of Tapah’s track, intensity, and precipitation distribution after assimilating the data from UAV dropsonde observations and intensified Guangdong Beidou-based drifting radiosonde observations into the South China Sea Typhoon Model operational system of CMA.

On September 8, Haiyan I-type UAV conducted mobile observations of TyphoonTapah. The image showed meteorological personnel making pre-flight preparations. Photoed by GUO Ran

Typhoon Mitag

At around 14:50 on September 19, this year's No. 17 Typhoon Mitag made landfall along the coastal area of Shanwei, Guangdong, as a severe tropical storm. The Shanwei Municipal Meteorological Department completed the reinforcement and maintenance of observation equipment across the city in advance, ensuring the stable collection and transmission of meteorological data. Two days ahead of time, it issued the "On-duty Information of Shanwei Municipal Meteorological Department," accurately predicting that the typhoon would directly hit Shanwei and bring severe wind and rain impacts. This provided crucial decision-making bases for relevant departments to deploy preventive measures. On the afternoon of September 8, the Department also coordinated with the municipal education bureau to implement a school-closure mechanism, effectively safeguarding the safety of teachers and students.

During the period of typhoon impact, the Department strengthened its "31631" progressive meteorological service model, promoted inter-departmental collaboration and information sharing, continuously updated typhoon developments, and increased the frequency of its services to once every hour. At the same time, it strictly implemented the "dual call and response" mechanism. By 17:00 on September 19, it had issued approximately 60 early warning text messages, reaching over 50,000 people, and implemented the "dual call and response" for high-level warnings four times, ensuring that warning information reached every relevant position and individual.

Staff at the National Satellite Meteorological Centre closely monitored the movement of the typhoon. Photoed by ZHUANG Baiyu

Typhoon Ragasa

To tackle the impacts of Typhoon Ragasa, meteorological departments of China promptly released the early warning and also closely monitored typhoon movements, analyze their tracks, disaster risks, and areas of impact, deliver progressive meteorological services, and continuously issue more precise forecasts and warnings as time progresses.

The Shanghai Typhoon Institute of CMA and the Hong Kong Observatory jointly conducted manned aircraft field observation flight experiments to comprehensively capture the changes in the internal three-dimensional structure of Typhoon Ragasa.

Intensive consultations on typhoons have become routine, with forecasters from the MMC engaging in close exchanges of views with their counterparts from HKO, the Macao Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau, as well as meteorological departments of Guangdong, Hainan, and other regions, and analyze and predict typhoon development trends and impacts.

In space, FY-4B has initiated intensive observations, continuously capturing the latest position and intensity changes of typhoons. At sea, meteorological buoys measured real-time wind speed, air pressure, and wave height, bolstering typhoon intensity determination and forecast verification. On land, a network of weather radars conducts real-time monitoring of typhoon structural characteristics and the convection of peripheral rainbands. Observational data from multiple sources are then fused and analyzed to generate high-precision real-time products, underpinning seamless and refined forecast conclusions.

On the evening of September 23, as Super Typhoon Ragasa drew closer, Shantou in Guangdong Province was battered by wind and rain. The image showed staff members at the Shantou Meteorological Station braving the elements to release a radiosonde balloon. Photoed by CHEN Ruipeng

Typhoon Matmo

Meteorological departments of Guangdong utilized the provincial emergency system to disseminate various decision-making meteorological service information through channels such as "one-click" 121 outbound calls, 121 faxes, and decision-making text messages. They promptly issued township-level rainstorm and thunderstorm gale warning signals to emergency response personnel at the provincial, municipal, county, and township levels. From October 2 to 4, Guangdong Provincial Meteorological Service, in collaboration with the three major telecom operatorsissued two batches of warning information via the provincial emergency warning information dissemination system, reaching approximately 335 million text message recipients. Additionally, through internet service channels such as "Colorful Micro Weather" and "School Suspension Alarm," the refined service engine recorded 3.6724 million visits.

During this process, Typhoon Matmo was heading straight for the Leizhou Peninsula.The provincial meteorological observatory strengthened its coordination with municipal meteorological observatories, and the meteorological department in Zhanjiang deployed all its elite resources. They promptly provided rolling forecast products on the typhoon's impact and risk warning reminders to port-adjacent industrial clusters such as Baosteel, Sinopec, BASF, Xuwen Port, and marine ranches, offering crucial support for precise typhoon defense measures by key enterprises.

On the morning of October 5, Guo Chunya, the deputy chief forecaster of the Guangdong Provincial Meteorological Observatory, discussed the forecast errors of the typhoon track with forecasters. Photoed by WANG Tianwei

Planner/Editor: LIU Shuqiao