The high-pressure system that parked over the Korean Peninsula and drove the heat wave also sat across the typhoons' path and deflected them toward China and Japan.
The tracks of Typhoon Saudel and Typhoon Krovanh in black and their forecast paths in green as of Sept. 3KOREA METEOROLOGICAL ADMINISTRATION
The heat wave that blanketed Korea this summer also shielded it from all 17 typhoons that formed nearby. Now that the heat is easing its hold on the country, forecasters warn that typhoons may hit the peninsula soon.
Typhoon Krovanh, the 24th typhoon of the year, will be Korea’s first test. The typhoon formed on Tuesday and is currently moving toward Japan and the Korean Peninsula. However, the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) expects it to stall near Okinawa rather than press north. As of 3 p.m. on Thursday, the typhoon was in waters about 110 kilometers (68.4 miles) east-northeast of Okinawa and moving west-northwest at 13 kilometers per hour (8.1 miles per hour), making it Category 1 — the weakest classification on the intensity scale.
“Krovanh will keep moving north through Friday, but after that, a high-pressure system holding firm to the north of Korea should push it back to the southeast,” KMA forecast analyst Gong Sang-min said. “As things stand, the chance of the typhoon moving directly to Korea is low.”
The storm ahead of it has taken a stranger route. Typhoon Saudel approached Shantou in southern China on Thursday morning, its second landfall in China in a week, and is moving along the coast at a Category 1 level.
Saudel formed on Aug. 19 and hit the Zhejiang coast last Friday. Strong winds and heavy rain caused major damage to affected areas. The typhoon then weakened into a tropical depression over the Chinese interior, moved to waters near Hong Kong, rebuilt itself at sea and regained strength on Tuesday, when the revived storm dumped more heavy rain on southern China. It is expected to weaken into a tropical depression again on Friday before dissipating.
The forecast path of Typhoon Krovanh, the 24th typhoon of the year, as of Sept. 3KOREA METEOROLOGICAL ADMINISTRATION
Twenty-three typhoons formed in August, more than four above the seasonal norm of 18.6. Ten of them formed in August alone, which the KMA says is the most for any August since it began compiling such data in 1951.
Seventeen formed over the summer as a whole, and none of them reached Korea. The high-pressure system that parked over the peninsula and drove the heat also sat across the storms’ path north and deflected them toward China and Japan.
But the system is breaking down as the season turns. Fall typhoons this year are expected to run above the norm in both number and strength because of a strong El Niño, a warming of Pacific waters near the equator that helps accelerate typhoon formation and growth.
“Typhoons could not [reach us] this summer because of the high-pressure system that brought the severe heat, but in the fall, a path toward Korea could open,” said Moon Il-ju, who heads the Typhoon Research Center at Jeju National University. “Fall typhoons are getting stronger and more numerous [in general], so we need to prepare for them.”
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
