Severe Tropical Storm Sam, also known in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

as Tropical Storm Luding, was a relatively strong storm that formed in August 1999. It brought severe impacts to the

and southeastern

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, causing 20 deaths.

Meteorological history

On August 17, an area of circulation within the monsoon trough located in the

Philippine Sea The Philippine Sea is a List of seas#Marginal seas by ocean, marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean, Western Pacific Ocean east of the list of islands of the Philippines, Philippine Archipelago (hence the name) and the List of seas#Largest seas ...

became more organized and the JTWC issued a TCFA. The developing cyclone slowly moved to the northwest, becoming Tropical Depression 16W nine hours after the TCFA was first issued. As the cyclone continued to intensify, it was named ''Sam'' on August 19. Around this time, the

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 ...

to Sam's north shifted its track in a westwards direction towards

Luzon Luzon ( , ) is the largest and most populous List of islands in the Philippines, island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the List of islands of the Philippines, Philippine archipelago, it is the economic and political ce ...

. The storm passed over the north of the island on August 20 and entered 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 ...

, reaching typhoon strength the next day. Sam gradually intensified further as it approached the Chinese coast and it made landfall about to the northeast of Hong Kong at its peak with 140 km/h (85 mph) winds on August 22. Sam continued to move to the northwest over China dissipating about 24 hours later.

PAGASA The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (, abbreviated as PAGASA , which means "hope" as in the Tagalog language, Tagalog word ''pag-asa'') is the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHS ...

named the developing storm ''Luding'' shortly before the JTWC began to issue advisories.

Impact

Typhoon Sam was responsible for seven deaths in the Philippines. In addition, flooding from its rainfall displaced over 4000 people, and many major roads were closed due to landslides near

Baguio Baguio ( , , ), officially the City of Baguio (; ; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Cordillera Administrative Region, Philippines. It is known as the "Summer Capital of the Philippines", ...

. Sam became the wettest tropical cyclone to affect Hong Kong since records began in 1884, dropping over 616 mm (24.2 inches) of rain, exceeding the previous record set in 1926. Peak sustained winds of 96 km/h (60 mph) were recorded on Waglan Island as the typhoon passed over the territory. The heavy rain led to many instances of flooding and over 150 landslides throughout Hong Kong, killing 1 person and forcing the evacuation of about 1,000. A total of 328 people were injured in various incidents relating to the storm, and total losses in Hong Kong totaled to approximately $17 million. In addition to the direct casualties from the storm, China Airlines Flight 642, using an MD-11 aircraft, crashed while attempting to land at

Hong Kong International Airport Hong Kong International Airport is an international airport on the island of Chek Lap Kok in western Hong Kong. The airport is also referred to as Chek Lap Kok International Airport or Chek Lap Kok Airport, to distinguish it from its predec ...

, killing three on board and injuring 219. At the time of the crash wind gusts in excess of 65 km/h (40 mph) were recorded at the airport. After moving into China, Sam killed at least 17 and injured 100 people in

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 ...

. Direct economic losses in the province were about $18 million.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sam (1999) Sam Typhoons in Hong Kong 1999 in Hong Kong

Meteorological history

Impact

See also

References