Typhoon Kai-tak (2012)
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Typhoon Kai-tak, known in the Philippines as Tropical Storm Helen, was a mild
tropical cyclone A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...
that affected
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
,
Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
and
Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...
. It was the seventh typhoon and the thirteenth
named storm Tropical cyclones and subtropical cyclones are named by various warning centers to simplify communication between forecasters and the general public regarding forecasts, watches and warnings. The names are intended to reduce confusion in the ...
of the 2012 Pacific typhoon season. The storm killed 41 people and caused a sum of US$765 million in losses. Kai-tak can be tracked back to the broad area of disturbance embedded in a monsoonal trough that was first spotted, early on August 10. It was only at midnight, on August 16, when the JMA officially declared Kai-tak a typhoon. On the morning of August 17, the windspeed dropped to 60 knots (110 km/h; 69 mph) and was no longer a typhoon. The typhoon caused heavy damage in China's two provinces killing four people and causing huge economic loss. Kai-Tak slammed the northern Philippines triggering flash floods and landslides and killing at least ten people, one week after deadly monsoon rains battered the country. In Vietnam, Kai-Tak has stormed across the country's north bringing high winds and floods to several areas including the capital Hanoi.


Meteorological history

The origins of Kai-tak can be tracked back to the broad area of disturbance embedded in a monsoonal trough that was first spotted, early on August 10. By the next day, the convection deepened and a weak low-level circulation center was spotted with winds of up to . A
Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) was a joint space mission between NASA and JAXA designed to monitor and study tropical rainfall. The term refers to both the mission itself and the satellite that the mission used to collect data. ...
pass revealed that the convection around the system was very loosely organised and the banding was relatively weak. By midnight, that day, the
Japan Meteorological Agency The , abbreviated JMA, is an agency of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. It is charged with gathering and providing results for the public in Japan that are obtained from data based on daily scientific observation an ...
(JMA) started tracking the system as a weak Tropical Depression with winds under 30 knots. A couple of hours later, the
Joint Typhoon Warning Center The Joint typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) is a joint United States Navy – United States Air Force command in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The JTWC is responsible for the issuing of tropical cyclone warnings in the North-West Pacific Ocean, South P ...
(JTWC) issued a
Tropical cyclone formation alert A Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert (TCFA) is a bulletin released by the U.S. Navy-operated Joint Typhoon Warning Center in Honolulu, Hawaii or the Fleet Weather Center in Norfolk, Virginia, warning of the possibility of a tropical cyclone forming ...
(TCFA) estimating winds of up to . As the storm was also in the
Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration Pagasa may refer to: * ''Pagasa'' (genus), an insect genus in the family Nabidae * PAGASA, an acronym for the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration *"May Pagasa", a pen-name of José Rizal José Prot ...
(PAGASA)'s area of Responsibility, they started issuing advisories on the system, thus naming it ''Helen''. By noon, on August 12, the JMA confirmed that the depression has reached a windpseed of . As opposed to this, in their first advisory on the system, the JTWC said that the storm had winds of up to 25 knots only. Only late that night, did the JTWC confirm winds of 30 knots, based on new microwave imagery and satellite data. The storm was moving to the west at at the moment. At midnight, the JMA reported winds of , stating that the depression had intensified into a tropical storm, thus officially naming it ''Kai-tak''. At 09:00 UTC, on August 13, the JTWC confirmed the same. At that time, the system had a broad, partially exposed low-level circulation center (LLCC) with deep convection persisting along the western periphery. Later the same day, according to JMA, the storm reached a maximum sustained windspeed of , thus making it a Severe Tropical Storm. The storm continued tracking northwestward and was located approximately northeast of
Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...
,
Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...
.
Infrared Infrared (IR), sometimes called infrared light, is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than those of visible light. It is therefore invisible to the human eye. IR is generally understood to encompass wavelengths from around ...
imagery revealed that deep
convection Convection is single or multiphase fluid flow that occurs spontaneously due to the combined effects of material property heterogeneity and body forces on a fluid, most commonly density and gravity (see buoyancy). When the cause of the convec ...
persisted along the southwestern periphery of the LLCC. Though the storm entered warm watered off the Philippine coast, it failed to intensify rapidly as it was located along the southern periphery of a deep-layered
subtropical ridge The horse latitudes are the latitudes about 30 degrees north and south of the Equator. They are characterized by sunny skies, calm winds, and very little precipitation. They are also known as Subtropics, subtropical ridges, or highs. It is a h ...
and was experiencing moderate vertical
wind shear Wind shear (or windshear), sometimes referred to as wind gradient, is a difference in wind speed and/or direction over a relatively short distance in the atmosphere. Atmospheric wind shear is normally described as either vertical or horizontal ...
. The JTWC did not expect the storm to strengthen any further since it would start interacting with the nearby landmass. On August 14, the LLCC of the storm passed under the deepest convection, however, it failed to intensity because an
anticyclone An anticyclone is a weather phenomenon defined as a large-scale circulation of winds around a central region of high atmospheric pressure, clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Southern Hemisphere as viewed from abov ...
that was located to the northeast of Kai-tak. Albeit the ample outflow, no good convection developed to the northern half of the system due to the shear caused by the anticyclone. At this moment, Kai-tak was expected to rapidly drift eastward due to the persistent subtropical ridge. The JTWC expected Kai-tak to become a typhoon within 48 hours due to warm sea-surface temperatures, and then make landfall. By the night of August 14, Kai-tak tracked westward at and the LLCC became embedded within central dense overcast convection. The storm became more consolidated as a result. Fragmented concentric deep convection surrounded the LLCC. Also, the anticyclone to the east of the system weakened thus reducing the wind shear affecting Kai-tak. The windspeed then rose to approximately . By the next day, the Kai-tak accelerated towards the Philippines. The LLCC started interacting with the northern coast of the island nation. The deep convection continued to build along with the strong equatorward
outflow Outflow may refer to: *Capital outflow, the capital leaving a particular economy *Bipolar outflow, in astronomy, two continuous flows of gas from the poles of a star *Outflow (hydrology), the discharge of a lake or other reservoir system * Outflow ...
. The storm, however, produced no poleward outflow. Due to the sudden rise in trackspeed, the JTWC estimated a landfall within 12 hours. On the night of August 15, the infrared satellite imagery showed that convective bands have deepened and wrapped tighter into the LLCC and an excellent equatoward outflow. The windspeed was estimated at , which is equivalent to a minimal category 1 typhoon on the SSHS. Kai-tak was expected to continue intensifying before making landfall over China, and then decay rapidly due to land interaction. According to reports the next morning, Kai-tak continued drifting westward at about . Though the bulk on convection remained to the southern semi-circle, deep convective
rainbands A rainband is a cloud and precipitation structure associated with an area of rainfall which is significantly elongated. Rainbands can be stratiform or convective, and are generated by differences in temperature. When noted on weather radar ima ...
have developed over the northern periphery. Over the past 12 hours, the storm rapidly moved west, into china and was expected to make landfall soon. Kai-tak was located along the southern periphery of a deep subtropical ridge positioned over southeast China. The storm continued speeding towards China and by the night of August 16, it was drifting west at nearly . Infrared imagery showed that the cloud-top temperatures were starting to drop. The vertical wind shear near Kai-tak had weakened dramatically. However, the storm maintained the same windspeed. The JTWC announced that the storm would start weakening rapidly within 12 hours due to land interaction. It was only at midnight, on August 16, when the JMA officially declared Kai-tak a typhoon. By then, the system sped up towards landmass. It was drifting west at over , poised to make
landfall Landfall is the event of a storm moving over land after being over water. More broadly, and in relation to human travel, it refers to 'the first land that is reached or seen at the end of a journey across the sea or through the air, or the fact ...
over the
Leizhou Peninsula The Leizhou Peninsula, alternately romanized as the Luichow Peninsula, is a peninsula in the southernmost part of Guangdong province in South China. History Qing naval forces were stationed at the Leizhou Peninsula. During the 19th century ...
over the next 12 hours, cross the
Gulf of Tonkin The Gulf of Tonkin is a gulf at the northwestern portion of the South China Sea, located off the coasts of Tonkin (northern Vietnam) and South China. It has a total surface area of . It is defined in the west and northwest by the northern ...
, before making a second and final landfall into northern Vietnam to the east of Hanoi. At the same time, the PAGASA issued their last warning on Kai-tak, otherwise known as Helen, locally, as it left the Philippine area of Responsibility. On the morning of August 17, Kai-tak made landfall over the Leizhou peninsula, as expected. It maintained the same intensity and was expected to track west-northwestward under the influence of the subtropical ridge. Within 6 hours, Kai-tak made a second landfall over the northeast coast of Vietnam and has weakened slightly. The windpseed dropped to and was no longer a typhoon. Kai-tak was expected to weaken rapidly thereafter. Later that night, the JTWC issued their final warning on the system as it weakened further and sped up inland. They expected the system to dissipate within 24 hours. However, the JMA stopped tracking the storm early the next morning, no longer considering it a tropical cyclone.


Preparations


Hong Kong

On August 15, The Hong Kong Observatory issued the Standby Signal, No. 1 warning regarding Kai-tak as an advisory to the public to closely follow weather reports before flying. The next day, the observatory hoisted the Strong Wind Signal, No. 3 for strong wind, as the storm came within 500 km of the region. At 22:15 the Typhoon signal Number 8 was issued which means winds speeds from 63 to 117 km/h were expected in Hong Kong. At 6:20AM the typhoon signal was lowered to Signal number 3 as Kai-Tak was moving away from Hong Kong. Hong Kong's flag carrier
Cathay Pacific Cathay Pacific Airways Limited (CPA), more widely known as Cathay Pacific (), is the flag carrier of Hong Kong, with its head office and main hub located at Hong Kong International Airport. The airline's operations and subsidiaries have sc ...
also announced that they will be temporarily suspending services to the region due to the typhoon.
Hong Kong International Airport Hong Kong International Airport is Hong Kong's main airport, built on reclaimed land on the island of Chek Lap Kok, Hong Kong. The airport is also referred to as Chek Lap Kok International Airport or ''Chek Lap Kok Airport'', to distinguish ...
had some flight cancellations during Typhoon Kai-Tak.


China

On August 15, The national disaster relief authority of China issued a fourth-level alert, predicting that the storm may hit the coastal areas of the provinces of
Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...
and
Fujian Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capi ...
. Warnings have been issued to the
Pearl River Delta The Pearl River Delta Metropolitan Region (PRD; ; pt, Delta do Rio das Pérolas (DRP)) is the low-lying area surrounding the Pearl River estuary, where the Pearl River flows into the South China Sea. Referred to as the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Mac ...
forecasting rainfalls up to . The agency asked all ships to return to port, reinforce outdoor structures, and evacuate workers from offshore oil platforms.


Vietnam

On August 16, The Central Steering Committee for Flood and Storm Prevention and Control stated that preparations need to be made regarding the approaching storm. The committee asked all boats at sea to remain well informed about the storm. They predicted winds of up to .


Impact


Philippines

Early on August 16, Tropical Storm Kai-Tak slammed the northern
Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...
triggering
flash flood A flash flood is a rapid flooding of low-lying areas: washes, rivers, dry lakes and depressions. It may be caused by heavy rain associated with a severe thunderstorm, hurricane, or tropical storm, or by meltwater from ice or snow flowing o ...
s and
landslide Landslides, also known as landslips, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, deep-seated grade (slope), slope failures, mudflows, and debris flows. Landslides occur in a variety of ...
s and killing at least three people, one week after deadly monsoon rains battered the country, disaster relief officials said. Twenty northern provinces had been placed under storm warnings before the storm hit. The Office of Civil Defence said one man drowned when he suffered a seizure and fell into a flooded rice field in the province of
Pangasinan Pangasinan, officially the Province of Pangasinan ( pag, Luyag/Probinsia na Pangasinan, ; ilo, Probinsia ti Pangasinan; tl, Lalawigan ng Pangasinan), is a coastal province in the Philippines located in the Ilocos Region of Luzon. Its capit ...
and another drowned while crossing a swollen river on Tuesday in
Ilocos Norte Ilocos Norte, officially the Province of Ilocos Norte ( ilo, Probinsia ti Ilocos Norte; tl, Lalawigan ng Ilocos Norte), is a province of the Philippines located in the Ilocos Region. Its capital is Laoag City, located in the northwest corner of ...
province. Another man died from
electrocution Electrocution is death or severe injury caused by electric shock from electric current passing through the body. The word is derived from "electro" and "execution", but it is also used for accidental death. The term "electrocution" was coined ...
in Naguilian town in nearby
La Union La Union (), officially the Province of La Union ( ilo, Probinsia ti La Union; Kankanaey'': Probinsyan di La Union;'' Ibaloi'': Probinsya ne La Union;'' pag, Luyag/Probinsia na La Union; Tagalog'': Lalawigan ng La Union),'' is a province in th ...
province, said Superintendent Jovencio Badua, a regional police spokesman. At least 3,555 people were evacuated from their homes in La Union and Pangasinan because of flash floods while several highways were cut off because of landslides, Badua said. By that night, the storm left behind ten dead in the Philippines. Economic loss across the nation reached
PHP PHP is a general-purpose scripting language geared toward web development. It was originally created by Danish-Canadian programmer Rasmus Lerdorf in 1993 and released in 1995. The PHP reference implementation is now produced by The PHP Group ...
125 million (US$2.96 million). The storm blew out of the Philippines offering some relief for millions of people struggling to recover from a few weeks of
monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscil ...
rains that earlier claimed 109 lives. But more than the death toll, a foreign organisation warned the floods posed a continuing and major problem to the three million people who were displaced from their homes, almost one million of whom had sought refuge in temporary evacuation centres. The
NDRRMC The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), formerly known as the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC), is a working group of various government, non-government, civil sector and private sector organizations o ...
said it was still providing relief aid to nearly a million people impacted by last week's floods, including more than 216,000 at evacuation centres. “The need is massive and urgent, millions of people are suffering the miserable consequence of these floods and we must try to reach them before the rains hit again,” Anna Liendfors, the country representative of Save the Children appealed. At the same time, weathermen warned residents living in low-lying and mountainous areas against possible landslides and flash flood due rains ranging from heavy to intense. In
Pampanga Pampanga, officially the Province of Pampanga ( pam, Lalawigan ning Pampanga; tl, Lalawigan ng Pampanga ), is a province in the Central Luzon region of the Philippines. Lying on the northern shore of Manila Bay, Pampanga is bordered by Tarlac ...
, the home province of former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in Central
Luzon Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...
, officials ordered the pre-emptive evacuation of residents in villages along one of the major river systems.


China


Vietnam

Meanwhile, in
Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
, Typhoon Kai-Tak has stormed across the country's north bringing high winds and floods to several areas including the capital
Hanoi Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...
. Among the victims was a taxi driver who was killed when a tree fell on his car in Hanoi, while two others died from electric shock after a cable fell in northern Son La city. Another victim died in a landslide. Earlier more than 11,000 boats, including several hundred used by tourists at Halong Bay, were ordered to stay close to the shore. The Vietnamese army put 20,000 soldiers backed by helicopters, rescue boats and canoes on standby to handle any incidents.


See also

* Other tropical cyclones named Kai-tak *
Typhoon Hagupit (2008) Typhoon Hagupit, (, ) known in the Philippines as Typhoon Nina, was a powerful cyclone that caused widespread destruction along its path in September 2008. The 21st depression, 14 tropical storm and 10th typhoon of the 2008 Pacific typhoon seaso ...
*
Tropical Storm Jebi (2013) Severe Tropical Storm Jebi (), known in the Philippines as Tropical Storm Jolina, was a tropical cyclone that caused loss of life and moderate damage across Vietnam and South China in July 2013. At least six people were killed in Vietnam. The mos ...
*
Typhoon Kalmaegi (2014) Typhoon Kalmaegi, known in the Philippines as Typhoon Luis, was the 22nd depression and the 15th named storm of the 2014 typhoon season. Kalmaegi was the first storm to make landfall over the Philippines since Typhoon Rammasun, two months prior ...


References


External links


JMA General Information
of Typhoon Kai-tak (1213) from Digital Typhoon
JMA Best Track Data
of Typhoon Kai-tak (1213)
JTWC Best Track Data
of Typhoon 14W (Kai-tak)
14W.KAI-TAK
from the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory
Latest humanitarian response information via ReliefWeb
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kai-tak (2012) 2012 Pacific typhoon season 2012 disasters in the Philippines Typhoons in the Philippines Typhoons in China Typhoons in Vietnam Typhoons 2012 disasters in China 2012 in Vietnam Typhoons in Hong Kong Kai-tak