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Typhoon Matmo made landfall on the southern shores of China on Sunday afternoon, shortly after sweeping across the provincial island of Hainan. The intense weather forced the relocation of approximately 350,000 people, bringing heavy downpours and damaging winds, particularly between Guangdong's Wuchuan and Hainan's Wenchang. Boat transport were halted and air travel disrupted at the airport in Haikou.

Typhoon Statistics

Matmo, this year's 21st typhoon of the year, recorded wind speeds of 151km/h and poured more than 50mm of rainfall in six hours in Qinzhou and Chongzou. The city of Nanning also received high rainfall totals.

Matmo prompted China's top-tier emergency warning, with disturbances in the city, where commercial activities, transportation systems and roads were closed. In Hong Kong, numerous air services were impacted and 30 cancelled.

Future Projections

As Matmo moves inland towards the provincial area in Vietnam, it is expected to weaken into a less intense system with 55mph winds but will persist to bring heavy rainfall. Northern Vietnam could face 130-150mm on Monday, raising the threat of flooding and landslides. The weather pattern is anticipated to move towards Yunnan region in China, where further intense rain is probable.

Global Weather Events

At the same time, a hurricane named Priscilla developed off the Pacific shoreline of Mexico on Saturday night, first as a tropical storm. It prompted a weather alert for south-western regions from Punta San Telmo to another location on Monday.

In the early hours of Sunday, Priscilla was about 305 miles from a Mexican cape with continuous gusts of 105km/h. It strengthened into a hurricane in the night, when wind speeds reached at 121km/h.

Although unlikely to make landfall, the storm is likely to produce dangerous waves and strong currents as it moves northwestward along the coast towards Baja California Sur. Heavy rainfall is predicted on the coming day, amounting to 100-150mm in specific Mexican states, with some areas at about 200mm. Other regions could face 50-100mm.

In other parts, Cyclone Shakhti has developed as the first post-monsoon storm system of the year in the Arabian Sea, causing an warning from the national weather agency for an Indian state. On that day, Shakhti was 130 miles southeast of Ras al Hadd, Oman with maximum sustained winds of 103km/h.

The storm, which has moved in a southwestern direction and weakened, is predicted to turn eastward into the the sea. Rough seas are expected to persist along the Gujarat-North Maharashtra coast and intense rain is anticipated in coastal districts including specific Indian cities.