Rare typhoon to bring rain, gales to Liaoning

Typhoon Bavi may land in Liaoning province on Thursday, bringing gales and torrential rains to the area after forming on Saturday and subsequently accelerating north, the National Meteorological Center said.

The center predicted that Bavi will land between Liaoning's Zhuanghe city and the North Pyongan province of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea on Thursday morning. Winds up to 136 kilometers per hour and heavy rainfall are expected to strike Liaoning and parts of Shandong, Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces through Thursday night.

On Wednesday, the center issued a red alert for the storm－the highest of the four-tier warning system.

Under the guidance of the Ministry of Transport, the Liaoning government has started to evacuate ship crews and has suspended all ferry, railway and highway services that will be affected by the typhoon.

On Wednesday, Dalian International Airport in Liaoning canceled 32 flights due to weather risks. Interprovincial passenger ship services along the Bohai Strait between Shandong and Liaoning were suspended on Wednesday afternoon, Qilu Evening News, a local newspaper reported.

The sustained rainfall that has been affecting Liaoning since Sunday will exacerbate the situation and cause geological disasters such as landslides, urban flooding and debris flow, the provincial government said.

Shenyang, the provincial capital, announced that starting on Wednesday afternoon, night fairs and outdoor tourist spots would be suspended, and schools and nursing homes would be shut down temporarily.

After making landfall, Bavi will subside and move through the northeastern provinces, the national meteorological center said.

If Bavi makes landfall in Liaoning at the predicted strength, it will be the most powerful of the 13 storms that have landed in Liaoning over the past 71 years, said Zhang Juan, a weather analyst at the China Meteorological Administration.

"Typhoons that arrive in the Yellow Sea tend to move east toward the Korean Peninsula, and it is not easy for them to land in China's northeastern provinces," she said.

The center said that if Bavi lands in Liaoning, it would be the first typhoon to land in the region since 2005, although several storms have since affected the area after landing in the Korean Peninsula.

Moreover, Bavi will also be the second typhoon since 1949 to make its first landfall in Liaoning, the other having hit in 1964.

"During the past seven decades, typhoons in Liaoning were mostly 'secondhand', which means they landed in other areas before arriving in the province, and weakened during the first landfall," Zhang said.

"However, this year, unusually high sea temperatures in the East and Yellow seas have energized Bavi and helped maintain its strength."

Zhang warned that northern areas are vulnerable due to their lack of experience responding to typhoons, and cold air there combined with a typhoon will trigger heavier rainfall.