Tropical Cyclone Matmo Struck Southern China Bringing Widespread Evacuations
The powerful storm made landfall on the southern shores of China on Sunday afternoon, shortly after passage over the island province of Hainan. The intense weather forced the evacuation of around 350,000 people, bringing heavy downpours and destructive gusts, especially between Guangdong's Wuchuan and Hainan's Wenchang. Boat transport were halted and air travel disrupted at the airport in Haikou.
Storm Details
Matmo, this year's 21st typhoon of 2025, recorded wind speeds of 94mph and poured more than 50mm of precipitation in six hours in Chongzou and Qinzhou. The city of Nanning also received high rainfall totals.
Matmo prompted China's top-tier red alert, with disturbances in the city, where commercial activities, transportation systems and roads were shut. In the special administrative region, 100 flights were impacted and dozens called off.
Forecast and Movement
As Matmo moves inland towards Cao Bang province in the neighboring country, it is projected to weaken into a less intense system with 89km/h winds but will continue to bring substantial precipitation. Vietnam's northern regions could experience significant rainfall on Monday, raising the threat of inundation and landslides. The system is expected to move towards Yunnan region in China, where additional heavy rainfall is likely.
Global Weather Events
Meanwhile, a hurricane named Priscilla formed off the Pacific shoreline of Mexico on Saturday night, first as a storm system. It prompted a weather alert for the southwestern areas from Punta San Telmo to another location on the start of the week.
In the morning of the next day, Priscilla was about 491 kilometers from a Mexican cape with sustained winds of 65mph. It intensified into a hurricane in the night, when wind speeds reached at 75mph.
Though not expected to hit the coast, Priscilla is likely to generate hazardous swells and strong currents as it tracks northwestward along the coast towards a Mexican state. Substantial rain is predicted on the coming day, amounting to a considerable volume in specific Mexican states, with local totals at about 200mm. Other regions could receive 50-100mm.
In other parts, a cyclone named Shakhti has developed as the initial post-season cyclonic storm of 2025 in the a body of water, causing an warning from the national weather agency for an Indian state. On Sunday, Shakhti was 130 miles southeast of a location in Oman with maximum sustained winds of 64mph.
Shakhti, which has moved in a southwestern direction and lost strength, is predicted to turn towards the east into the the sea. Rough seas are likely to persist along the Gujarat-North Maharashtra coast and intense rain is expected in coastal districts including Dwarka, Jamnagar and Surat.
