Typhoon Saola (Gener) Update #15 [LANDFALL]

Typhoon Saola (Bagyong Gener) has now made landfall along the Eastern Coast of Taiwan early last night. The system has been moving very slowly ever since as it tracks across the rugged terrain of the island. Saola was last located approximately 70km south of Taipei, Taiwan. Maximum sustained winds have slightly decreased to 140kph with gusts of up to 175kph. Saola has weakened to a Category 1 as it suffers from land interaction.

As of 5am this morning, PAGASA has dropped Public Storm Warning Signal #2 and is now only keeping Signal #1 for Batanes Group of Islands; all other signal warnings are now gone. Both Taiwan and Japan have been issuing their respective warnings as well; please visit their sites for the latest update.

CWB Radar

Latest radar from Taiwan shows the widespread moderate to heavy rain blanketing the entire nation. Rainfall rates of up to 30mm are possible here. Many areas have actually reported as much as 300mm already today, particularly in the northern regions. Furthermore, strong winds continue to batter the country with sustained winds of up to 120kph and occasional gusts of up to 170kph being reported especially in along the coastal areas. This is a very dangerous development especially as Saola continues to creep across the island. Please continue to stay inside and listen to the news for the latest update and warnings in your area. For more radar images and warnings from Taiwan, please click HERE (CWB) Website)

IR Image from NRLMRY

As was suggested yesterday, Saola did indeed make a significant wobble to the west. Furthermore, the topographical features of Taiwan also influenced the westerly movement of the storm. Typhoon Saola made landfall at approximately 1am last night (Taiwan Local Time) along the eastern coast of Hualien County. The eye signature was very clearly seen as it made landfall but it has since disappeared as the system moves over land.

Typhoon Saola/Gener will continue moving slowly to the west northwest passing near Taipei later today. Strong winds and heavy rains will continue throughout the day. Rainfall amounts of up to 500mm possible in some spots, especially along mountains. Saola will exit into the open waters later tonight and could make another landfall, this time in Southeastern China (Fujian Province), tomorrow morning.

Damrey

Damrey has intensified into a Typhoon overnight and is on track to making landfall in Eastern China, north of Shanghai, later this afternoon. We'll have our update on Damrey later today.

Next updates for Saola and Damrey will be around 11am today. Stay safe!
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Issued (23 UTC) 7am PhT 080212