Highlights:
- Typhoon Soudelor made its first landfall in northeast Taiwan Saturday, Aug. 8, 2015 at 5:00 a.m. local time (5:00 p.m. EDT Friday, August 7, 2015) about 19 miles northwest of Hualien with estimated top sustained winds of 120 mph. This is equivalent to Category 3 on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.
- Soudelor then made a second landfall Saturday, Aug. 8, 2015 at 10:10 p.m. local time with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph in Xiuyu District, Putian City in Fujian Province in southeast China.
- Winds gusted over 100 mph in Taiwan and more than 50 inches of rain fell in at least one location.
- Soudelor impacted Japan's far southwest Ryukyu Islands Aug. 7-8, 2015, where sustained winds of 101 mph with a gust to 145 mph was confirmed in at least one location.
- Soudelor also caused widespread damage in Saipan Aug. 2-3, 2015.
- After pounding Saipan, Soudelor underwent rapid intensification Aug. 3, 2015 and became Super Typhoon Soudelor, the strongest tropical cyclone on Earth so far in 2015.
(MORE: Latest News From Taiwan)
Taiwan Impacts
Peak Wind Reports
Top Rainfall Totals
Taoyuan International Airport west of the capital of Taipei saw measured wind gusts over 90 mph early Aug. 8, 2015. The top wind gust in Taiwan was 143 mph (64 m/s) in Su-ao, which is located along the northeast coast. However, the Central Weather Bureau deleted all wind data for this site, so the accuracy may be in question. The Taiwanese island of Pengjiayu, which is located just to the northeast of Taiwan's main island, saw sustained winds up to 93 mph and a gust up to 131 mph.
More than 4 million power customers lost power at some point in Taiwan, according to taipower.com which is the most power outages on record in Taiwan due to a typhoon.
Torrential rainfall also impacted northern Taiwan. One of CWB's weather stations in Datong Township, Yilan County, reported 52.52 inches of rain.
For more on the impacts in Taiwan, click here.
China Impacts
Typhoon Soudelor made landfall at 10:10 p.m. local time Aug. 8, 2015 with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph in Xiuyu District, Putian City in Fujian Province in southeast China.
The coastal city of Fuzhou saw tropical-storm force winds well ahead of Soudelor's arrival. A peak wind gust to 83 mph and more than a foot of rain was reported there.
The strongest reported wind gust in eastern China was 89 mph in Jiuxian Shan.
Sinking air on the periphery of Soudelor led to very hot temperatures Aug. 8, 2015 in the Guangdong Province of China. This hot air resulted in Hong Kong recording its hottest temperature on record with a high of 97.3 degrees F (36.3 degrees C), according to the Hong Kong Observatory,
Japan's Ryukyu Islands Impacts (Okinawa, Miyako and Yaeyama)
The center of Soudelor passed well south of the main island of Okinawa (including Kadena Air Base). A gust to 52 mph was reported at Kadena Air Base Aug. 7, 2015.
The eye passed just south of Japan's southwesternmost islands, which lie just east of Taiwan. Typhoon-force gusts (exceeding 74 mph, or 33 meters per second) were observed at several locations there, including a sustained wind of 101 mph (45.1 m/s) and a gust to 145 mph (64.7 m/s) at Yonaguni-Jima at 3:20 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 8, 2015 Japanese time. A peak gust of 123 mph (55 m/s) was clocked on the island of Ishigakijima at 11:51 p.m. Japanese time Friday, Aug. 7, 2015 (10:51 a.m. EDT in the U.S.).
Saipan Impacts
Intensifying from a Category 1 to Category 2 equivalent storm, Soudelor's eye passed directly over the island of Saipan, home to about 48,000 residents. Saipan is part of the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. commonwealth.
A state of disaster and significant emergency was declared by Acting Gov. Ralph DLG Torres.
High winds downed power poles, removed roofs off buildings and flooded Saipan's power plant. About 500 people were in emergency shelters, as of Thursday morning, the Red Cross told the Associated Press.
“From looking at the damage, I would guess weeks to months to restore power. It took about three to six months to restore service on Guam after Pongsona,” Dr. Phillip Dauterman told the Pacific Daily News in an email. "This is not the total damage of Pongsona, but it is close.”
Saipan residents rationed gasoline, and Guam sent ten generators to power water pumps, the AP reported. Damage is said to be widespread around the island, and power may not be restored for up to two months.
"I haven't seen a storm like this in 20 years," Gregorio Kilili Camcacho Sablan, Northern Mariana Islands' delegate to the United States congress, told the AP. "Unfortunately, the resources we have are hardly enough to get things up."
Saipan International Airport recorded a peak wind gust to 91 mph just before 11 p.m. local time Aug. 2, 2015, as the western eyewall approached, before wind observations dropped off -- not to mention the instrumentation erroneously reported snow -- for about an hour.
Soudelor passed north of Guam but wind gusts over 30 mph and light rain were measured.
Philippines Impacts:
Rainbands on the southern edge of Soudelor's circulation triggered deadly flooding in parts of the Philippines.
Strongest of 2015, So Far
Soudelor intensified rapidly over the western Pacific Ocean after raking through Saipan, a U.S. commonwealth in the northern Mariana Islands.
Soudelor became the fifth super typhoon of this year Aug. 3, 2015 after undergoing a replacement of its eyewall, a process which occurs in all intense tropical cyclones. A super typhoon is defined by sustained one-minute wind speeds of at least 150 mph.
At its peak on Aug. 3, 2015 (mainland U.S. time), Soudelor was estimated by the U.S. military's Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) to pack maximum one-minute sustained winds of 180 mph and gusts to 220 mph.
(MORE: Spectacular Images of Soudelor)
The Japan Meteorological Agency estimated Soudelor's central pressure at 8 a.m. EDT Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2015 was 900 millibars, making Soudelor the strongest tropical cyclone on Earth so far in 2015.
According to the Digital Typhoon database, Super Typhoon Maysak was the year's previous strongest typhoon, bottoming out at an estimated 910 millibars. South Pacific Cyclone Pam in March reached peak estimated sustained winds of about 165 mph (145 knots) in the South Pacific basin.
Low wind shear and very warm sea surface temperatures allowed Soudelor to ramp up quickly; the cyclone was just a minimal typhoon 48 hours before reaching its peak intensity.
MORE ON WEATHER.COM: Typhoon Soudelor (PHOTOS)
