Typhoon Pabuk, known in the Philippines as Tropical Storm Chedeng, was a minimal typhoon that formed on August 5, 2007. The system made landfall on
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 ...
on August 7, and on August 9 Pabuk passed to the south of
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 ...
.
Meteorological history
On August 4, 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 ...
began monitoring a tropical depression.
The system continued to strengthen, 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 ...
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 ...
on the system early the next day, noting that its environment was "strongly favorable for development".
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 ...
designated the system Tropical Storm Pabuk shortly after. The JTWC designated the system Tropical Storm 07W at about the same time, and on August 5
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 system Chedeng. As Pabuk continued to move to the northwest, it gained some organisation as it slowly developed
outflow
Outflow may refer to:
*Capital outflow, the capital leaving a particular economy
*Bipolar outflow, in astronomy, two continuous flows of gas from the poles of a star
* Outflow (hydrology), the discharge of a lake or other reservoir system
*Outflow ...
. It was upgraded by the JMA to a severe tropical storm on August 6. Moving westwards towards
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 ...
, an area of convection south of Pabuk separated and formed its own low-level circulation. Pabuk's upper-level outflow inhibited this new area of convection. Strengthening slightly, Pabuk was upgraded to a typhoon on the morning of August 7. The JTWC downgraded Pabuk to a tropical storm later that day, with the JMA downgrading Pabuk shortly before landfall. It made landfall in southern
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 ...
around 1630 UTC according to Taiwan radar and crossed the southern tip of the
Hengchun Peninsula
Hengchun Peninsula () is a peninsula located in Pingtung County, Taiwan, and is named after Hengchun Township. It is the southernmost part of Taiwan. The Hengchun Peninsula is surrounded by the sea on three sides: the Taiwan Strait to the west, th ...
in
Pingtung County
Pingtung () is a County (Taiwan), county located in southern Taiwan. It has a warm tropical monsoon climate and is known for its agriculture and tourism. Kenting National Park, Taiwan's oldest national park, is located in the county. The county ...
. The JTWC re-upgraded Pabuk to a typhoon at its next advisory, however, citing a small eye at landfall, before downgrading it to a tropical storm again three hours later.
After passing over Taiwan, Pabuk took aim at
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 ...
. On August 9 as the system passed to the south of Hong Kong JMA downgraded the storm to a tropical depression later that day and issued its final public advisory, with the JTWC following suit shortly after. The tropical depression then turned back to the east-northeast on August 10, intensifying while taking aim at Hong Kong. It skirted to the west of Hong Kong and dissipated while heading northeast into the mainland.
Preparations
Philippines and Taiwan
Authorities in Manila closed all schools and government offices on August 8 as the outer bands of Pabuk triggered deadly flooding and landslides. On August 7, Taiwanese authorities issued land and sea warnings for most of the island as Typhoon Pabuk was expected to make landfall the following day. Government officials in Taiwan stockpiled nearly 6,000 sandbags to quickly respond to any flood disasters and cleanup crews were rushed into cities to clear gutters and storm drains in advance of heavy rain. Shopkeepers were advised not to tighten billboards to avoid harming others.
China
As Pabuk made landfall in southern Taiwan on August 8, Chinese officials evacuated an estimated 20,000 residents from coastal areas in
Fujian Province
Fujian is a province in southeastern China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capital is Fuzhou and its largest prefecture city by population is Qua ...
. Roughly 6,700 vessels were also called back to port in anticipation of rough seas. An estimated 1.7 million text messages were also sent out to inform the public about the storm.
Hong Kong and Macau
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) and Macau's Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau (
SMG) both hoisted
Strong Wind Signal No. 3 on August 9 as the system passed to the south of Hong Kong, they were canceled later. On August 10 the signals were re-issued as the tropical storm looped and turned northeast. The HKO also warned that winds were expected to strengthen further locally, and that the Hong Kong Education Bureau had suspended all classes for the day. After upgrading Pabuk to a tropical storm, the HKO issued the No. 8 Southwest Gale or Storm Signal at 2:30 p.m.
HKT (0630
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 ...
) later that day as Pabuk reached the closest point of approach to the Hong Kong Observatory Headquarters (skirting at 30 km west-northwest of the HKO Headquarters), and was about to make landfall near Lung Kwu Tan, Tuen Mun. This was replaced by signal 3 later while Pabuk took another turn in direction and headed west inland into
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 ...
. Early next morning, Pabuk resumed a northeasterly track, edging once again closer to the Pearl River Delta before it weakened further and HKO cancelled all signals.
Impact
Philippines and Taiwan
As Pabuk neared Taiwan, the outer
rainbands
A rainband is a cloud and precipitation structure associated with an area of rainfall which is significantly elongated. Rainbands in tropical cyclones can be either stratiform or convective and are curved in shape. They consist of showers and ...
from the storm triggered
monsoon
A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in Atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annu ...
rains over the northern Philippines, causing numerous landslides. In the mining town of
Maco in
Compostela Valley, seven houses were buried under mud, leaving ten people dead. Farther north, another person, a young boy, was killed by a landslide.
The streets of
Manila
Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...
were flooded by rains which left low-lying areas under neck-deep waters.
The rains also led to the collapse of a concrete wall, burying five children. Firefighters quickly rushed to the building and pulled the children out, all of them only sustained minor injuries.
After Pabuk struck Taiwan, another storm, Tropical Storm Wutip, brought more rains to the Philippines. The combined fatalities from the two storms totaled to 15, left one person missing, and injured ten others. About 1.2 million people were affected by the two storms and damages were estimated at $6.8 million (2007
USD
The United States dollar (symbol: $; currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it int ...
).
Despite being a typhoon upon making landfall near
Eluanbi in southern
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 ...
, Pabuk caused little damage.
Near where the typhoon made landfall,
weather radar
A weather radar, also called weather surveillance radar (WSR) and Doppler weather radar, is a type of radar used to locate precipitation (meteorology), precipitation, calculate its motion, and estimate its type (rain, snow, hail etc.). Modern w ...
estimated that the area received rainfall in excess of . The heavy rains helped alleviate severe drought conditions which had persisted in southern Taiwan for several months.
At its peak, 60,000 residences were without power. No fatalities were caused by the storm and only $200,000 (2007 USD) was left in farm damages.
China
Record setting rains fell in southern China as Pabuk stalled near
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 ...
.
Zhanjiang
Zhanjiang; Leizhou Min: ''Tchiàm-kōng''; previously Tsamkong or Guangzhouwan, then romanized in English as Kwangchowan or Kwangchow Wan. is a port city on the southwestern panhandle of Guangdong province in South China. The prefecture- ...
, near the island of
Hainan
Hainan is an island provinces of China, 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 mean ...
, recorded a 24‑hour rainfall measurement of 739
mm (29.1
in), higher than any other single day event in the past 200 years. Numerous stretches of highways and railways were damaged by the floods that followed. Several trains were cancelled due to the washed out tracks. Two dams reached record water levels and five dams reached the water danger mark. The Dawan Reservoir nearly overflowed, but workers dug canals around it to release the excess water in a controlled manner.
The storm left 64,200 people homeless, affected over 1.1 million, and about 4,200 homes were destroyed. Damages from Pabuk were estimated at $220 million (2007 USD).
Despite the torrential rains, there were no reports of any fatalities associated with the storm.
Hong Kong
A
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 ...
of 0.45
m (1.47
ft) was recorded in Hong Kong.
On August 10, during the storm's second pass by Hong Kong, maximum 10-minute mean wind reached 101 km/h (which is storm-force) on Cheung Chau right before the issuance of No. 8 Southwest Gale or Storm Signal, and wind gust reaching was recorded on Ngong Ping (which is a high ground) at 7:16PM local time (11:16AM
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 ...
), despite Pabuk only being a tropical storm.
See also
*
Other tropical cyclones named Pabuk
*
Other tropical cyclones named Chedeng
*
Timeline of the 2007 Pacific typhoon season
References
External links
JMA General Informationof Typhoon Pabuk (0706) from Digital Typhoon
JMA Best Track Dataof Typhoon Pabuk (0706)
JMA Best Track Data (Graphics)of Typhoon Pabuk (0706)
JTWC Best Track Dataof Typhoon 07W (Pabuk)
07W.PABUKfrom the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pabuk (2007)
2007 Pacific typhoon season
2007 disasters in the Philippines
Typhoons in the Philippines
Typhoons in Hong Kong
Pabuk
nl:Tyfoonseizoen van de Grote Oceaan 2007#Tyfoon Pabuk, 7-W (Chedeng)