Typhoon Dolphin, classified as the thirteenth of the season according to Chinese standards, made landfall around 5:30 PM local time on Sunday (corresponding to 10:30 AM in Lisbon) in the city of Yuhuan, located in Zhejiang. At that time, winds were recorded at 42 meters per second, according to reports from the country's National Meteorological Center.
The storm returned to the mainland shortly after, hitting the city of Yueqing, also in Zhejiang, with wind gusts of 38 meters per second. Subsequently, the system moved inland and began to lose intensity progressively.
On Monday morning at 5:00 AM (10:00 PM Sunday in Lisbon), the center of Dolphin was located in Qingyuan County, Zhejiang, already classified as a tropical storm, with winds of 23 meters per second. The forecast indicated that it would continue to move northwest at a speed between 20 and 25 kilometers per hour, maintaining its weakening trend.
The National Meteorological Center lowered the typhoon alert level but maintained an orange alert, the second most severe, specifically for rainfall, predicting intense or torrential precipitation in the central and eastern parts of the country.
According to the meteorological agency, certain regions of eastern Zhejiang and mountainous areas of eastern Anhui province may face torrential rains, with estimated volumes between 250 and 320 millimeters.
In Shanghai, where widespread rain occurred during the night, several districts issued orange alerts. Four subway lines were suspended, and other sections operated with speed restrictions. Furthermore, the city halted all passenger water transport, including tourist services and urban ferries, advising citizens to avoid unnecessary travel during peak hours.
Local authorities reported that by Sunday afternoon, Shanghai had relocated 215,600 people for safety reasons.
Before reaching Zhejiang, Dolphin passed through the Ryukyu Islands, located in southern Japan, on Friday. During this segment, the storm caused at least three minor injuries, power outages in thousands of homes, and the cancellation of hundreds of flights. This led Chinese authorities to issue a red alert on Sunday, anticipating the typhoon's entry into the country's eastern coast.
The storm caused widespread transportation disruptions across the Yangtze River Delta area, resulting in the cancellation of over a thousand flights on Sunday, in addition to the suspension of some ferry routes and rail services.
Xinhua News Agency reported that Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport canceled 388 arrivals and departures, most of which were scheduled for the afternoon. At Pudong and Hongqiao airports in Shanghai, over 1,300 flights were canceled, representing nearly 60% of scheduled services.
Dolphin's impact is expected to last for several days. The chief meteorologist of the National Meteorological Center, Dong Lin, informed Xinhua that the storm's trajectory covers approximately 1,300 kilometers, implying an extensive and prolonged effect of wind and rain.
For today, intense rain is expected, concentrated mainly in the areas south of the Yellow and Huaihe Rivers, covering parts of Zhejiang, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Anhui, Hubei, Henan, and Shandong.
The precipitation band is expected to move north starting Tuesday, as Dolphin's residual movement continues inland. According to the Beijing Meteorological Service, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region should experience heavy rains from Monday night until Friday.
This summer in China has been characterized by the presence of typhoons, torrential rains, floods, and landslides, culminating in dozens of deaths and the preventive evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people in various provinces.
