Tropical Cyclone Matmo Struck Coastal China Causing Widespread Evacuations

The powerful storm made landfall on the southern shores of China on the weekend, shortly after passage over the island province of Hainan. The intense weather forced the evacuation of around 350,000 residents, bringing heavy downpours and damaging winds, particularly between Wuchuan in Guangdong and Hainan's Wenchang. Ferry services were suspended and air travel disrupted at Haikou Meilan airport.

Typhoon Statistics

Matmo, this year's 21st typhoon of the year, had sustained wind speeds of 94mph and dumped more than 50mm of rainfall in six hours in Chongzou and Qinzhou. Urban areas of Nanning also received significant rain amounts.

The storm prompted China's top-tier emergency warning, with disruptions in the city, where businesses, transport links and roads were shut. In Hong Kong, 100 flights were impacted and 30 cancelled.

Future Projections

As Matmo advances inward towards the provincial area in Vietnam, it is expected to diminish into a less intense system with 89km/h winds but will continue to bring substantial precipitation. Northern Vietnam could face significant rainfall on Monday, raising the risk of inundation and mudslides. The system is anticipated to move towards Yunnan province in China, where additional heavy rainfall is probable.

Other Storm Systems

Meanwhile, Hurricane Priscilla developed off the Pacific shoreline of Mexico on Saturday night, first as a tropical storm. It led to a storm watch for the southwestern areas from Punta San Telmo to another location on Monday.

In the morning of Sunday, Priscilla was about 305 miles from a Mexican cape with sustained winds of 105km/h. It intensified into a severe cyclone in the evening, when sustained winds reached at 121km/h.

Though not expected to hit the coast, Priscilla is likely to generate hazardous swells and strong currents as it moves northwestward along the coast towards a Mexican state. Heavy rainfall is forecast on the coming day, reaching 100-150mm in specific Mexican states, with some areas at about 20 centimeters. Other regions could face 50-100mm.

Elsewhere, a cyclone named Shakhti has developed as the initial post-season storm system of 2025 in the a body of water, causing an warning from the national weather agency for Maharashtra. On that day, the cyclone was 130 miles south-east of a location in Oman with peak wind speeds of 103km/h.

Shakhti, which has tracked in a southwestern direction and weakened, is predicted to turn eastward into the Arabian Sea. Turbulent waters are likely to persist along the Gujarat-North Maharashtra coast and intense rain is expected in coastal districts including specific Indian cities.