Typhoon “Qiangpi” is approaching. Experts explain why autumn typhoons are “more powerful than tigers”

Xinhua News Agency, Fuzhou, October 23 (Reporter Zhang Huaying) This year’s No. 30 typhoon “Qiangpi” is approaching the southeastern waters of my country step by step. Why are there still typhoon activities after autumn? What are the characteristics of autumn typhoons compared with summer typhoons? There is a folk saying that “the autumn platform is more fierce than the tiger”. What is the reason behind it? How should the public take precautions? Focusing on these issues, reporters interviewed meteorological experts.

“Many people think that typhoons only ‘belong’ to midsummer, but this is not the case.” Wen Zhenzhi, a senior engineer at the Fujian Provincial Climate Center, said that in meteorology, typhoons generated from September to November are called autumn typhoons. It is now late October, which is the period when autumn typhoons are active, and “Qiangpi” is a typical autumn typhoon.

“In autumn, the subtropical high gradually retreats eastward and moves southward, and the guided airflow adjusts accordingly. Autumn typhoons move along the airflow on the south side of the subtropical high, and the landing site is generally southerly.” Wu Xingyu, a senior engineer at the Fujian Provincial Meteorological Observatory, told reporters that compared with summer typhoons, autumn typhoons have a higher probability of severe typhoons and super typhoons, and their paths are more likely to move southward. The risk of composite disasters is prominent, and the paths are highly variable.

“The autumn platform is more fierce than the tiger” is no lie. Cao Rong, a senior engineer at the Fujian Provincial Climate Center, explained that the superposition of multiple favorable conditions makes the proportion of strong typhoons in autumn significantly higher than in summer: after the accumulation of sunshine throughout the summer, sea temperatures in the northwest Pacific remain high, providing sufficient energy for the development of autumn typhoons; in addition, autumn typhoons are mostly generated in the open ocean and develop at sea for a longer time, which is more conducive to system maintenance; in autumn, the atmospheric circulation in the tropical Pacific is relatively stable, the vertical wind shear is small, and the typhoon structure is not easily damaged.

According to Cao Rong, what needs to be more vigilant is that the cold air is active in autumn. After the cold air from the north moves southward, it meets the typhoon circulation. The air pressure gradient increases and the cold and warm air converge strongly. Not only is it easy to trigger stronger precipitation, but the scope of the influence of strong winds is also further expanded.

On October 21, a fishing boat docked at the Gaoqi Fujian-Taiwan Central Fishing Port in Xiamen, Fujian. Xinhua News Agency

According to the Central Meteorological Observatory, at 17:00 on the 23rd, the center of Typhoon “Qiangpi” (strong typhoon level) was located on the ocean about 185 kilometers southeast of Taipei City, Taiwan Province, and the maximum wind force near the center was level 14. The meteorological department predicts that from 20:00 on the 23rd to 20:00 on the 24th, due to the impact of Typhoon Qiangpi, there will be heavy to heavy rains in parts of southeastern Jiangsu, Shanghai, central and eastern Zhejiang, northeastern Fujian, and central and northern Taiwan Island. In order to prevent the possible adverse effects of Typhoon Qiangpi, Fujian, Zhejiang and other places have launched emergency response to typhoon prevention.

Meteorological experts reminded that the impact of Typhoon Qiangpi’s wind and rain should not be underestimated. People in the affected areas are advised to pay close attention to the typhoon warning information issued by the meteorological department. At the same time, they should be vigilant about flash floods and geological disasters that may be induced by heavy precipitation, and try to avoid low-lying flood-prone areas and geological disaster-prone areas.