Typhoon Tapah (22W) – Tropical Cyclone Advisory #6: 0000 UTC 8 September 2025

Tapah strengthens into a typhoon as it makes landfall in southern China.

Author

Will Weaver
September 07, 2025

…Tapah strengthens into a typhoon as it makes landfall in southern China…

Himawari-9 visible satellite image (Weathernerds)

Current storm information:

  • Position: 21.2°N 112.1°E

  • Movement: NW at 12 knots (20 km/h)

  • Intensity: 65 knots (120 km/h) [Category 1]

  • Central pressure: 978 hPa

Trend:

  • Rapid weakening is forecast during the next 24 hours and Tapah is expected to become a tropical depression by tonight.

Watches and warnings:

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

Hazards affecting land:

  • Tropical storm conditions are continuing to occur along the southern coast of China, including in Macau and Hong Kong, with typhoon conditions occurring in the Jiangcheng area. Tapah is expected to produce destructive winds and very heavy rainfall across portions of southern China during the next day or so. For additional information, including possible local warnings, refer to products from your local weather office.

Discussion:

Composite radar image, showing the eye of Tapah on the coast. (CyclonicWx)

Radar data from CMA and SMG, as well as satellite imagery, indicate that Tapah is now making landfall in southern China between Jiangcheng and Macau. The tropical cyclone underwent a brief rapid intensification phase, with a very small but cloud-filled eye feature evident on radar imagery and intermittently visible on satellite imagery. The central dense overcast blossomed quite rapidly after the previous forecast, with cloud tops colder than -80°C south and west of the center, with even more intense convection flaring within the southern eyewall. Given all of these developments, Tapah is now a typhoon with 65 kt winds. This estimate is notably higher than some of the pre-landfall Dvorak estimates, but the improvements in Tapah’s structure have continued during landfall.

Now that Tapah is moving inland, it should weaken rapidly as it encounters rugged terrain. The system should gradually turn toward the west during the next couple of days as steering currents weaken, and Tapah should weaken to a tropical depression by tonight and decay into a trough of low pressure by Tuesday.

Forecast positions and maximum winds

  • 00 hrs: 21.2°N 112.1°E – 65 kts on the coast

  • 12 hrs: 23.2°N 110.9°E – 40 kts inland

  • 24 hrs: 24.0°N 109.6°E – 25 kts inland

  • 48 hrs: Dissipated