[Weather] Strong Winds To Persist In Shanghai As Champi Moves Away

Strong winds are forecast to continue in Shanghai on Sunday even as Champi moves away, according to the Shanghai Meteorological Bureau.

The bureau replaced the blue typhoon alert with a blue strong wind alert on Sunday morning. As of 10 am on Sunday, six Shanghai districts – Pudong, Fengxian, Jinshan, Chongming, Baoshan and Qingpu – lifted their blue typhoon alerts. All districts in the city issued blue strong wind alerts.

Winds over land are expected to reach force 6 to 7 on the Beaufort scale during the day. At force 6, large branches move and umbrellas become difficult to use. At force 7, whole trees sway and walking against the wind becomes difficult.

Gusts could reach force 7 to 8 along rivers and coastal areas.

Zhao Yuanming, a chief forecaster with the bureau, said cold air would continue to bring strong winds to Shanghai as the storm moved away. He urged residents to watch for falling objects and take precautions when outdoors.

Autumn typhoons can interact with cold air moving south, causing strong winds to persist even after a storm moves away from the coast. As a typhoon moves east over the sea and its winds begin to weaken, strong gusts driven by the advancing cold air can quickly take over, leaving little or no lull in the wind, Zhao said.

These gusts can intensify rapidly, especially along the coast, on bridges and between tall buildings.

Residents should not let their guard down just because a typhoon has moved away or the rain has stopped. They should continue to monitor strong wind alerts and take precautions, he noted.

The combined effects of Champi's outer circulation and cold air have brought heavy rain across Shanghai since Friday.

Citywide rainfall has averaged more than 60 millimeters, with readings reaching 90 millimeters at individual monitoring stations in Pudong. Winds reached force 8 in southeastern Pudong and eastern Chongming.

According to the bureau's Sunday update, Champi was over the northern East China Sea at tropical storm strength. It was forecast to move northeast toward the coast of southwestern Japan and gradually become an extratropical cyclone.

The National Meteorological Center's Saturday bulletin had classified Champi as a severe tropical storm, with maximum winds of 25 meters per second, or about 90 kilometers per hour. Its center was about 795 kilometers southwest of Kagoshima, Japan.