Severe Tropical Storm Utor, 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 Typhoon Feria, was a large and deadly system that caused heavy rains and landslides throughout the

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

, and

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 ...

in early-July 2001. The eighth tropical depression and fourth named storm of the

2001 Pacific typhoon season The 2001 Pacific typhoon season was an average season with twenty-six named storms, sixteen typhoons and three super typhoons, with a near normal Accumulated Cyclone Energy (ACE) of 307.3 units. It ran year-round in 2001, with most tropical ...

, Utor formed on July 1 and intensified into a tropical storm shortly after. Utor was upgraded to a typhoon by the JTWC on July 3, and a day later, Utor was estimated to have peaked with 10-min winds of , with the JTWC estimating 1-min winds of . After passing just north of Luzon, Utor began to weaken, before making landfall on the district of Dapeng as a minimal typhoon. Utor caused 203 deaths, of which 168 were in the Philippines, 23 were in the province of Guangdong, 10 were in the province of

Guangxi Guangxi,; officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People's Republic of China, located in South China and bordering Vietnam (Hà Giang Province, Hà Giang, Cao Bằn ...

, and 2 were in Taiwan. Total damages from the storm amounted to $2.78 billion.

Meteorological history

At 21:30

UTC Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is the primary time standard globally used to regulate clocks and time. It establishes a reference for the current time, forming the basis for civil time and time zones. UTC facilitates international communica ...

on June 26, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) began monitoring a system in the Western Pacific Ocean. On June 29 at 12:30 UTC, the JTWC issued a

Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert A Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert (TCFA) is a bulletin released by the U.S. Navy-operated Joint Typhoon Warning Center in Honolulu, Hawaii or the Fleet Weather Center in Norfolk, Virginia, warning of the possibility of a tropical cyclone formi ...

(TCFA) on the system. The system continued moving to the southwest and on July 1 at 0:00 UTC both 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) and the JTWC upgraded the system to a tropical storm, with the JMA giving it the name ''Utor''. Shortly after being named, Utor abruptly turned to the north, passing just west of the island of

Yap Yap (, sometimes written as , or ) traditionally refers to an island group located in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, a part of Yap State. The name "Yap" in recent years has come to also refer to the state within the Federate ...

. On the next day at 6:00 UTC, Utor entered the

Philippine Area of Responsibility The Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) is an area in the Northwestern Pacific where PAGASA, the Philippines' national meteorological agency, monitors weather occurrences. Significant weather disturbances, specifically typhoons that enter o ...

and was named ''Feria'' by the

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

(PAGASA), which also began issuing advisories. Utor steered northwestward as it was gradually strengthening, being upgraded to a typhoon by the JTWC east of

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 ...

on July 3. The JMA followed suit, upgrading it to a severe tropical storm. Utor continued to strengthen as it continued northwestward, and on July 4, Utor made its closest approach to the island of Luzon, peaking in the process with 10-min winds of , with the JTWC estimating 1-min winds of . Utor developed a ragged eye during peak intensity, with the island of Calayan being in the eye. After peak intensity, Utor slowed down slightly, beginning to weaken as it approached the Chinese province of

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 ...

. On July 6 at 0:00 UTC, Utor made landfall on the district of Dapeng as a minimal typhoon, quickly weakening over land. 18 hours later, the JTWC issued its final warning on the system, and the JMA followed suit not long after. Utor dissipated over the autonomous region of Guangxi.

Impacts

Philippines

Utor, while not a very strong storm, brought heavy rain causing many landslides and flooding throughout the countries it affected. Almost 1 million people spread out over 20 provinces in the

were affected by the typhoon, with thousands of houses being destroyed or damaged. Effects and impacts from Utor in the Philippines amounted to greater than $37 million (2001 USD) in damage, as well as causing at least 168 fatalities. At least 17 landslides occurred throughout the Philippines. In

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", ...

, rainfall from Utor set a new 24-hour rain record. Due to the effects of the storm, on August 13, President

Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Maria Gloria Macaraeg Macapagal-Arroyo (; born April 5, 1947), often referred to as PGMA or GMA, is a Filipino academic and politician who served as the 14th president of the Philippines from Presidency of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, 2001 to 2010 ...

declared a state of calamity in the

Ilocos Region The Ilocos Region (; ; ), designated as Region I, is an Region of the Philippines, administrative region of the Philippines. Located in the northwestern section of Luzon, it is bordered by the Cordillera Administrative Region to the east, the Ca ...

and in the

Cordillera Administrative Region The Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR; ; ), also known as the Cordillera Region and Cordillera (), is an Regions of the Philippines, administrative region in the Philippines, situated within the island of Luzon. It is the only Landlocked co ...

Hong Kong and China

During Utor's passage, a 980 hPa reading was recorded in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

. 87 flights were canceled and 402 more were delayed due to the storm on July 6 in Hong Kong, with crops, roads, power lines, and other infrastructure in

being heavily damaged. A total of 23 people were killed and damages in Guandong amounted to ¥6.7 billion (US$813 million) (2001 USD). In Guangxi, economic losses were estimated at ¥16 billion (US$1.93 billion) (2001 USD), with 10 people being killed and another 6,850 people injured. In

Nanning Nanning; is the capital of the Guangxi, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in South China, southern China. It is known as the "Green City (绿城) " because of its abundance of lush subtropical foliage. Located in the South of Guangxi, Nanning ...

, the Yong River rose to 5.4 meters above its danger level, the highest it has reached in 50 years.

Taiwan

Agricultural losses in

amounted to NT$68 million (US$2 thousand) (2001 USD). 2 people were killed and 6 were injured due to torrential rains and strong winds.

References