BEIJING, July 9 (Reuters) – UK-based forecasting group Tropical Storm Risk (TSR) on Thursday raised its forecast for typhoons in the northwestern Pacific this year, predicting an “exceptionally active season” with activity about 40% above the 1991–2020 average.
• The updated July forecast projects 28 tropical storms, 19 typhoons and 12 intense typhoons for the June-November period, up from the 30-year averages of 25.5, 16.0 and 9.3, respectively.
• The forecaster said it expected a strong El Nino event developing across the Pacific to have a “strong enhancing effect” on northwest Pacific typhoon activity through the summer and autumn.
• TSR said there was a 92% chance the season would rank among the most active one-third of northwest Pacific typhoon seasons in recent decades.
• The northwest Pacific typhoon season is closely watched in China, where coastal provinces are frequently affected by storms forming over the basin.
• Typhoon Bavi, with winds approaching 200 kph (124 mph) and spanning about 1,000 km (621 miles), roughly the width of France, is heading across the Pacific towards Taiwan and is expected to make landfall on China’s eastern coast on Saturday night.
• China is also grappling with the aftermath of Typhoon Maysak, whose remnants spawned at least two tornadoes and triggered flooding in the central province of Hubei, while thousands remain stranded in the southern region of Guangxi.
(Reporting by Shi Bu and Ryan Woo; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
