Typhoon Haima

Typhoon Haima, known in the Philippines as Super Typhoon Lawin, was the third most intense tropical cyclone worldwide in 2016 tied with Nepartak. It was the twenty-second named storm and the eleventh typhoon of the annual typhoon season. Impacting the Philippines less than 3 days after Typhoon Sarika, Haima formed out of a tropical disturbance southwest of Chuuk on October 14, it developed into a tropical storm the next day. Steady strengthening occurred over the next day or two as it tracked westward towards the Philippines. After forming an eye shortly after it was upgraded to a typhoon, Haima began to rapidly strengthen and eventually became a super typhoon on October 18. It later attained its peak intensity as a Category 5-equivalent tropical cyclone before weakening slightly. Haima later made landfall in Peñablanca, Cagayan, late on October 19 as a Category 4-equivalent storm. Rapid weakening occurred as it interacted with the landmasses until it entered the Southern China Sea as a weak typhoon. It formed a large ragged eye once again and remained steady in intensity until making landfall in China on October 21. It weakened below typhoon intensity and became extratropical on October 22. The cyclone drifted northeastwards and later eastwards before emerging over water again, but eventually dissipated by October 26.

19 people were killed by Haima, and damage totals were estimated at more than US$970 million. The storm forced several hundred flights in the Philippines, Hong Kong, and China to be cancelled. Ahead of the storm, several shelters were set up in the areas near China by the government to adequate the affected people Flooding and storm surge affected many coastal areas, downing several trees and power lines, leading to power outages. Due to the damage caused by the storm in the Philippines and China, the names Haima and Lawin were retired from their respective name lists in 2017.

During October 13, the United States Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) started to monitor a tropical disturbance, that had developed about 705 km (440 mi) to the south-southeast of the Anderson Air Force Base in Guam. The system was located within a favourable environment for further development, with low vertical wind shear, warm sea surface temperatures and its dual outflow channels being enhanced by a TUTT Cell located to its northwest. During that day, the system moved north-westwards under the influence of a subtropical ridge of high pressure to its north and rapidly developed a low level circulation center. During October 14, the JTWC and Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) classified the disturbance as a tropical depression, while it was located within the Caroline Islands about 700 km (435 mi) to the south of Guam. During that day, the depression’s low level circulation center continued to rapidly consolidate, while bands of atmospheric convection built and wrapped into the center. As a result, both the JMA and JTWC reported that the depression had developed into a tropical storm, with the JMA naming it Haima after the Chinese word for a seahorse.

Immediately after the JMA indicated that Haima had intensified into a severe tropical storm at 00:00 UTC on October 16, the JTWC upgraded it to a typhoon because of improving banding; six hours later, the JMA also upgraded Haima to a typhoon, approximately 140 km (87 mi) northeast of Yap. Tracking west-northwestward along a subtropical ridge to the north, Haima began to form an eye. The typhoon entered the Philippine Area of Responsibility early on October 17 and received the name Lawin (hawk) from PAGASA, shortly before it deepened further with a sharply-outlined eye. Later, an eyewall replacement cycle occurred, as microwave satellite imagery revealed a solid inner ring of deep convection with a secondary outer ring.

Haima completed the eyewall replacement cycle by the morning on October 18. At this time, the JTWC upgraded it to a super typhoon. Several hours later, Haima presented a highly symmetric and tightly wound spiral structure with a 55 km (34 mi)-wide eye. There was a prominent anticyclone feature to the north blocking the usual poleward outflow channel, but given the impressive appearance, the restriction to flow was apparently having limited impact. Located in an area of warm sea surface temperatures near 30 °C, Haima reached peak intensity at around 18:00 UTC, with the central pressure at 900 hPa (27 inHg) and ten-minute maximum sustained winds at 215 km/h (134 mph). That intensity made Haima the second most intense tropical cyclone of the Northwest Pacific Ocean in 2016, after Typhoon Meranti. Simultaneously, the JTWC estimated one-minute maximum sustained winds at 270 km/h (170 mph), equivalent to Category 5 on the Saffir–Simpson scale. As Haima continued approaching and interacting with Luzon on October 19, the core convection became elongated with another eyewall replacement cycle, leading to a weakening trend and a cloud-filled eye. The JTWC downgraded Haima to a Category 4-equivalent typhoon with 1-minute sustained winds of 220 km/h (140 mph). Subsequently, the system made landfall over Peñablanca, Cagayan of the Philippines at 23:00 PST (15:00 UTC).

When Haima entered the South China Sea shortly before 08:00 PST (00:00 UTC) on October 20, the typhoon had weakened significantly but become larger. Although Haima kept deteriorating gradually over decreasing ocean heat content, the system soon regained a ragged 150 km (93 mi)-wide eye. Environmental conditions at this time included increasing vertical wind shear slightly offset by good dual outflow channels. Turning north-northwestward along the periphery of a subtropical ridge positioned to the north and east, Haima made landfall over Haifeng County, Shanwei in the Guangdong province of China at 12:40 CST (04:40 UTC) on October 21. Several hours later, Haima weakened into a severe tropical storm owing to the rugged terrain, and the JTWC issued its final warning on the system. The system further weakened into a tropical storm at 12:00 UTC and ultimately a tropical depression in the Jiangxi province at 18:00 UTC.

At around 08:00 CST (00:00 UTC) on October 22, Haima became extratropical and accelerated northeastward. Emerging into Hangzhou Bay right before 20:00 CST (12:00 UTC), the low then entered the East China Sea and turned eastward. The system developed into a gale-force low near the Tokara Islands early on October 23. Tracking eastward south of Japan, the system weakened into a low below gale-force about 420 km (260 mi) east of Chichijima, at around 09:00 JST (00:00 UTC) on October 25. It then wandered around the area and dissipated early on October 26.

During the passage of Haima, Signal 5 was given by the PAGASA. According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), Haima killed 18 people in total, and damages had reached up to ₱3.74 billion (US$77.6 million).