China Typhoons
Every year, several typhoons slam into China's south-east coast, bringing destructive wind, storm surge, and torrential rain from Guangdong to Zhejiang and beyond. Here is how China's typhoon season works.
At a glance
| Season | May–November (peak Jul–Sep) |
|---|---|
| Most-hit coast | Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang, Hainan |
| Basin | Western North Pacific — the world's most active |
| National service | China Meteorological Administration (CMA) |
The world's busiest typhoon coast
China borders the western North Pacific, the most active tropical-cyclone basin on Earth. Each year several typhoons make landfall along the south-east coast, most often in Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang, and Hainan, with impacts reaching far inland as heavy rain. The season runs roughly May to November and peaks from July to September.
Notable storms
Recent history includes Typhoon Saomai (2006), one of the strongest to hit the mainland in decades; Lekima (2019), which caused widespread flooding and many deaths; Mangkhut (2018), which battered Guangdong after devastating the Philippines; and Doksuri (2023), whose remnant rains triggered catastrophic flooding around Beijing and Hebei far from the coast.
The main dangers
Typhoons threaten the coast with destructive wind and storm surge, but their deadliest impact is often inland flooding: slow-moving or decaying typhoons can dump enormous rainfall over river basins and cities hundreds of kilometres from where they came ashore. The CMA's colour-coded typhoon warnings (blue–yellow–orange–red) signal the escalating threat.
Sources & further reading
- China Meteorological Administration (CMA)
- Regional Specialized Meteorological Center Tokyo — Typhoon Center
- Published accounts of Saomai, Mangkhut, Lekima, and Doksuri
Figures such as casualties and ratings reflect widely published accounts from national weather services and the European Severe Storms Laboratory, and may be revised as records are re-analysed.