South China Sea tropical depression intensifies into storm

Illustration of the trajectory of a tropical depression in the South China Sea. Photo courtesy of the Vietnam Disaster Monitoring System

The National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting reported that at 7 a.m. on Sunday, the storm was over the Paracel Islands and moving west-northwest at a speed of 10-15 kilometers per hour.

By 7 a.m. Monday, the storm will be over China’s Hainan Island, maintaining the same wind power of 74 kilometers per hour and moving at 10-15 kilometers per hour, but shifting slightly to the northwest.

By 7 a.m. on Tuesday, the storm will reach the Gulf of Tonkin, weakening and heading towards China’s Guangxi Province.

Meteorological stations in Japan and Hong Kong both suggest that the tropical depression will strengthen into a storm on Sunday morning. The U.S. Navy reports that peak wind power reach 83 kilometers per hour when reaching near Hainan Island. The storm has not yet been named.

Due to the storm, the western part of the northern and central South China Sea, including the Paracel Islands, and the eastern waters of the region spanning from the central provinces Quang Tri to Quang Ngai will experience strong winds, with sea waves two to four meters high. Around the storm center, waves will reach four to five meters high.

In a directive on Friday, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development requested the coastal provinces from Quang Ninh in northern Vietnam to Binh Thuan in central Vietnam to closely monitor the storm’s progression, count and inform vessels of the movement of the tropical depression to take precautionary measures.

This is the second major storm in the South China Sea this year, following the first one in May. The meteorological agency notes that this year’s storms are arriving late, expected to peak between September and November. There are forecasts of 11-13 storms and tropical depressions in the South China Sea, which Vietnam calls the East Sea, with five to seven affecting the Vietnamese mainland.