Tropical Storm Bebinca was a weak but erratic and long-lived

tropical cyclone A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its locat ...

that affected

South China South China ( zh, s=, p=Huá'nán, j=jyut6 naam4) is a geographical and cultural region that covers the southernmost part of China. Its precise meaning varies with context. A notable feature of South China in comparison to the rest of China is ...

and

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

in mid-August 2018. Bebinca originated from a tropical depression over the

South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by South China, in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan island, Taiwan and northwestern Philippines (mainly Luz ...

on August 9. Maintaining this intensity for a few days near the

Guangdong ) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...

coast, the system finally intensified into a tropical storm south of

Jiangmen Jiangmen ( zh, c=江门), postal map romanization, alternately romanization of Chinese, romanized in Cantonese as Kongmoon, is a prefecture-level city in Guangdong provinces of China, Province in southern China. It consists of three urban distri ...

on August 13. The storm moved slowly to the east and then curved back on the next day, before making landfall in 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. As of 2015, the population of the peninsula was 5,694,245. The largest city by population and ...

on August 15. Bebinca crossed 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 co ...

and made landfall in Vietnam on August 16, before dissipated on the next day. In China, 6 people were dead and the economic losses by the storm reached ¥2.31 billion (US$333 million). In Vietnam, Bebinca killed 13 people. Moderate damage to agriculture and infrastructure were reported in Northern Vietnam, with heavy rains caused multiple landslides and blocked the road. Total damage in Vietnam were over ₫1.34 trillion (US$57.6 million).

Meteorological history

Late on August 9, the

Japan Meteorological Agency The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA; ''気象庁, Kishō-chō'') is a division of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism dedicated to the Scientific, scientific observation and research of natural phenomena. Headquartered ...

(JMA) began to monitor a tropical depression over the

. The system generally moved northward slowly under a

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 subtropical ridges or highs. It is a high-pressur ...

, and then turned to northeast on the next day. Despite moving over warm waters, the depression remained poorly organized. It moved ashore near Hailing Island,

Yangjiang Yangjiang (), alternately romanized via Cantonese as Yeungkong, is a prefecture-level city in southwestern Guangdong Province in the People's Republic of China. It borders Maoming to the west, Yunfu to the north, Jiangmen to the east, and loo ...

, Guangdong Province at 10:35 a.m. CST on August 11 (02:35 UTC). The depression made an anti-clockwise loop inland and moved back to the sea later that day. The system moved slowly southeastward, because Yagi and Leepi in the northwestern Pacific prohibited the extension of the subtropical ridge, therefore the steering current remained weak for days in the South China Sea. After moving back to the sea, the depression gained some organization, and 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) finally classified it as a tropical depression and gave the numerical designation ''20W'' on August 12. After maintaining tropical depression status for more than 3 days, 20W finally intensified to a tropical storm and the JMA gave the international name ''Bebinca'' early on August 13. Throughout that day, Bebinca's low-level circulation center (LLCC) was exposed because of moderate to strong easterly

wind shear Wind shear (; also written 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 ...

. Despite this, the JTWC upgraded the system to a tropical storm later that day. JMA TD 20 2018-08-12 0545Z

Bebinca remained a sheared cyclone on August 14, while continued to slowly drifting to the east. After Leepi made landfall in Japan and dissipated, the subtropical ridge can finally extend and build over China, and Bebinca began to curve back to the west. Although wind shear remained strong on August 15, Bebinca still began to intensify as it was situated over very warm waters with , and the system was able to develop a

central dense overcast The central dense overcast, or CDO, of a tropical cyclone or strong subtropical cyclone is the large central area of thunderstorms surrounding its circulation center, caused by the formation of its eyewall. It can be round, angular, oval, or ir ...

. Bebinca made its second landfall in

Leizhou Leizhou () is a county-level city in Guangdong Province, China. It is under the jurisdiction of the prefecture-level city of Zhanjiang. The city was formerly known as Haikang County ( postal: ''Hoihong''); it was upgraded into a city in 1994 ...

, Guangdong at 9:40 p.m. CST (13:40 UTC), and emerged to the

about four hours later. Once moving into the warm waters of the Gulf of Tonkin, Bebinca began another intensification trend. This prompted the JMA to upgrade Bebinca to a severe tropical storm, but it was revoked in the post-storm analysis. Bebinca weakened slightly before making its third and final landfall in Tĩnh Gia District, Thanh Hóa Province, Vietnam at 5:30 a.m. ICT on August 17 (22:30 UTC on August 16), with winds of 75 km/h (45 mph). Bebinca weakened quickly once moving inland, and the JTWC issued its final warning early on August 17. The JMA also downgraded Bebinca to a tropical depression, and Bebinca dissipated later that day, over

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

Preparation and impacts

China

Shortly after the formation of Bebinca, the Hainan Meteorology Administration warned that the rainfall in parts of the

Hainan Island Hainan is an island province and the southernmost province of China. It consists of the eponymous Hainan Island and various smaller islands in the South China Sea under the province's administration. The name literally means "South of the Sea ...

peaked at , with strong winds occurring in the Hainan Island and its nearby areas. As Bebinca meandering near the Guangdong coast, the agency urged that the northern part of the island were still affected by the strong winds and heavy rainfall on August 12–13. Wind gusts of were recorded at

Haikou Haikou; Chinese postal romanization, formerly romanized as Hoihow is the capital city, capital and most populous city of the Chinese province of Hainan. Haikou city is situated on the northern coast of Hainan, by the mouth of the Nandu River. ...

. Due to the slow movement of Bebinca, Hainan Island was affected by extremely heavy rains. Rainfall in Haikou peaked at while rainfall in

Lingao County Língāo County (formerly romanised as Limko or Limkao) is an administrative district in Hainan province, China. It is one of the 4 counties of Hainan. Its postal code is 571800, and in 1999, its population was 399,057 people, who mainly speak ...

were at . Throughout the country, 6 people were dead and the economic loss were at ¥2.31 billion (US$333 million).

Hong Kong

The

Hong Kong Observatory The Hong Kong Observatory is a weather forecast agency of the government of Hong Kong. The Observatory forecasts the weather and issues warnings on weather-related hazards. It also monitors and makes assessments on radiation levels in Hong ...

(HKO) issued the standby typhoon signal No. 1 at 5:15 p.m. HKT on August 9. Because of the slow movement of Bebinca, the standby typhoon signal No. 1 was hoisted for more than four days, the second-longest in recorded history. As Bebinca began to approach the Guangdong coast, the HKO raised the typhoon signal to No. 3 early on August 14. The HKO has warned that low-lying areas may be prone to flooding or backflow of seawater because of

storm surge A storm surge, storm flood, tidal surge, or storm tide is a coastal flood or tsunami-like phenomenon of rising water commonly associated with low-pressure weather systems, such as cyclones. It is measured as the rise in water level above the ...

, and that members of the public should stay away from the shoreline due to rough seas.

Macau

The

Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau The Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau (SMG, ; ) is a department of the Macao Government. It provides weather forecasts and issues warnings on weather-related hazards. It also provides geophysical-related services to meet the needs of the pub ...

(SMG) issued the signal No. 1 at 5:00 p.m. MST on August 9. As Bebinca began to approach the

Zhujiang Delta The Pearl River Delta Metropolitan Region 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–Macao Greater Bay Area in official documents, ...

, the SMG raised the signal to No. 3 early on August 11. Similar to Hong Kong, due to the slow movement of the storm, the signal No. 3 remained hoisted for more than three days, until it was replaced by signal No. 8 late on August 14. This broke the longest storm signal hoisted in recorded history.

Vietnam

Bebinca, known in

as ' (Typhoon No. 4), made landfall over northern Vietnam early on August 17 in local time. The storm brought strong winds and heavy rains to the region, killing 10 people and 3 went missing. Besides, Bebinca damaged thousands of houses, causing moderate damage to agriculture. Heavy rains triggered numerous landslides and lead to some road accidents. Damages in Nghệ An Province were at ₫1.341 trillion (US$57.6 million).

References

External links

JMA General Information
of Tropical Storm Bebinca (1816) from Digital Typhoon
JMA Best Track Data
of Tropical Storm Bebinca (1816)
20W.BEBINCA
from the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory {{DEFAULTSORT:Bebinca (2018) 2018 Pacific typhoon season 2018 disasters in China Typhoons in China 2018 disasters in Vietnam Typhoons in Vietnam August 2018 in Asia Western Pacific tropical storms Tropical cyclones in 2018