Severe Tropical Storm Tapah (22W) – Tropical Cyclone Advisory #5: 1500 UTC 7 September 2025

Tapah continues to strengthen. Tropical storm conditions and heavy rainfall occurring over Hong Kong and Macau.

Author

Will Weaver
September 07, 2025

…Tapah continues to strengthen… …Tropical storm conditions and heavy rainfall occurring over Hong Kong and Macau…

Himawari-9 infrared satellite image (Weathernerds)

Current storm information:

  • Position: 20.4°N 113.4°E

  • Movement: NNW at 7 knots (10 km/h)

  • Intensity: 50 knots (95 km/h)

  • Central pressure: 990 hPa

Trend:

  • Additional strengthening is likely during the next 12 to 18 hours and Tapah could become a typhoon before it makes landfall.

Watches and warnings:

  • No. 8 Storm Signal (HKO/SMG): Hong Kong and Macau

Hazards affecting land:

  • Tropical storm conditions - heavy rainfall and gusty winds - are occurring in portions of southern China, including Hong Kong and Macau. These conditions will likely worsen over the next several hours. In addition, typhoon conditions are possible in portions of southern China east of the Leizhou Peninsula on Monday morning and afternoon. For additional information, including possible local warnings, refer to products from your local weather office.

Discussion:

Composite radar image (CyclonicWx). Convective banding is increasing near the center.

Radar data from HKO and CMA indicates that Tapah continues to get better organized as it approaches China. Bands of convection are continuing to develop around the circulation center, and a partial eyewall feature is present and wraps about halfway around the center. Meanwhile, a large burst of convection has developed in the northeastern quadrant of the system and is beginning to wrap around the center as a formative central dense overcast. Surface observations from both land and nearby ships indicate that sustained winds near tropical storm force are occurring quite far from the center, with sustained winds of 30 to 35 kts occurring in Hong Kong and Macau. All of this suggests that Tapah has strengthened, and the intensity is increased to 50 kts, which is ahead of most of the estimates but lies within CIMSS D-PRINT’s median intensity range.

Tapah is now moving north-northwestward ahead of an upper-level trough positioned over central China, and this motion is expected to continue during the next 24 hours or so. On this track, Tapah is expected to make landfall in southern China to the southwest of Macau on Monday morning. Given how quickly Tapah’s inner core is developing, it is appearing increasingly likely that Tapah will become a typhoon in the hours before landfall, and there remains a modest possibility of a quick burst of rapid intensification during the next 12 hours. The forecast brings Tapah to an intensity of 65 kts just before landfall. Following landfall, Tapah should weaken rapidly and gradually turn toward the west as it gets captured by a new subtropical ridge building behind the trough. By Tuesday evening or Wednesday, Tapah should decay into a trough of low pressure and dissipate.

Forecast positions and maximum winds

  • 00 hrs: 20.4°N 113.4°E – 50 kts

  • 06 hrs: 21.0°N 112.2°E – 60 kts

  • 12 hrs: 21.6°N 110.7°E – 65 kts

  • 24 hrs: 22.8°N 113.3°E – 45 kts inland

  • 48 hrs: 23.8°N 107.8°E – 25 kts inland

  • 72 hrs: Dissipated

JTWC forecast map