Tropical Storm Wipha (2025)
Updated: Wikipedia source
Severe Tropical Storm Wipha, known in the Philippines as Severe Tropical Storm Crising was a strong and deadly tropical cyclone that affected South China and Northern Vietnam after crossing Northern Philippines, Hong Kong, and Macau during mid-July 2025. The sixth named storm of the annual typhoon season, Wipha originated from a disturbance in the Philippine Sea on July 16 and then intensified into a tropical storm on July 19. Wipha then passed through far northern Luzon before gradually intensifying into a severe tropical storm on the same day. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) and the Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) further upgraded Wipha into a typhoon on the following day as it approached the Pearl River estuary, although the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) maintained its severe tropical storm status. Due to its close proximity to Hong Kong, the HKO once again issued the highest signal category in anticipation of the storm, Hurricane Signal No. 10, almost two years after Typhoon Saola battered the territory. Wipha continued to track closely over Hong Kong and Macau, bringing strong winds and heavy rainfall to the territories. The storm made landfall over Taishan in Guangdong Province on July 20 as a minimal typhoon, and it gradually weakened afterwards as it headed west-southwestward towards the Gulf of Tonkin. The storm later made its second landfall between Hưng Yên and Ninh Bình in Northern Vietnam as a weakening tropical storm. It continued moving inland until before eventually dissipating on July 23. Wipha helped enhance the southwest monsoon and generated flooding and landslides that caused extensive damage in the Philippines, leaving 40 people dead and eight others missing.