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First western Pacific tropical storm to impact southern China

Source Weatherzone Thu 12 Jun 2025

Gusty winds and heavy rain are impacting parts of Vietnam and southern China as the first tropical storm of the season, named Wutip, closes in on Hainan Island. The satellite loop below shows Tropical Storm Wutip, which translates to “butterfly” in Cantonese, spinning to the east of Da Nang, Vietnam. Image: Satellite loop of Tropical Storm Wutip on Thursday, June 12. Deep convective cloud can be seen on the southwestern flank of the storm over Vietnam, delivering areas of intense rainfall. However, remaining sectors of the storm are mostly devoid of this thick convection, indicating the storm is poorly developed and not expected to reach typhoon strength. The latest forecast track map (as of 12pm CST) from the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC), as seen below, has Wutip making landfall over the southern coast of Hainan Island on the morning of Friday, June 13. Image: latest forecast track map of Tropical Storm Wutip, as of 12pm CST on Thursday, June 12. The most intense rainfall is expected on the western side of the storm, with rainfall accumulations reaching 200-300mm over 24-36 hours as the system tracks northwest, north and then northeast. Some more localized areas could also receive up to 500-600mm. Image: Accumulated rainfall to 8pm CST on Sunday, June 15, over Vietnam, the Beibu Gulf, Hainan Island, Guangxi and Guangdong. Flash flooding has already impacted parts of northern Vietnam earlier this week, leading to one death and evacuation of hundreds of people as houses and infrastructure experienced damage. The video below shows gale-to-storm force winds blowing over the region, with Wutip making its way over Hainan Island, and then crossing into Guangxi either late on Friday, June 13, or early on Saturday, June 14. Video: 10m wind over the South China Sea between Wednesday, June 11 and Saturday, June 14. Intense rainfall brought by typhoons and monsoonal rain brings widespread flooding that bring death, displaces thousands of people, and disrupt agricultural, transport, aviation and mining businesses, costing millions of dollars in destruction and delays. - Weatherzone © Weatherzone 2025