On the evening of December 17, Rey entered the South China Sea and strengthened again. From the afternoon of the 18th, it opened its clear typhoon eye again, and the strong core convection was rotating at a high speed around the eye of the wind. This shows that it has once again become a super typhoon.
Rey Cloud Map on the evening of December 18, made by China Gas Love
Rey Cloud Atlas animation on the evening of December 18, from the SSD
In the South China Sea in December, the northeast monsoon is arrogant, the ocean heat is insufficient, and ordinary typhoon activity is rare, not to mention super typhoons! Since meteorological records have been recorded, the only two typhoons that reached the super typhoon form in the South China Sea in December were Baoxia in 2012 and Rey in 2021. Baoxia, on the other hand, because the circulation is too small and the peak time is short, its super typhoon intensity has not been recognized by the meteorological agency.
In early December 2012, Baoxia was in the clouds in the South China Sea. From rammb
In contrast, Rey is later than Baoxia, with a larger circulation and a longer peak time, and is the undisputed December South Sea Wind King. Regardless of December, the South China Sea in the summer and autumn typhoon season, typhoons of this intensity are also very rare. In addition to the super typhoons imported from the Bashi Strait, only a few typhoons such as Weimasson in 2014, Maggie in 1973, Betty in 1987, and Lane in 1995 were stronger than Rey. It can be seen that Rey is a very extreme typhoon.
Rey South Sea near the peak cloud map collection, Zhongqi love to sort out
Rey's extremes are reflected not only in intensity, but also in path. As we said before, Rey is most likely to turn north on the 19th, skim or rub over Hainan Island at close range on the 20th, and weaken and dissipate off the coast of the Pearl River Estuary in Guangdong on the 21st. Whether it makes landfall in Hainan or not, it will become the closest typhoon to the southern China mainland in mid-to-late December since meteorological records were recorded.
ECMWF's collective analysis of Rey, produced by ZCE Love
Of course, for South China, Rey is no longer so scary. At present, the sea temperature off the coast of Hainan, Guangdong is only 20-25 degrees, and the vertical wind shear is very large, Rey will weaken rapidly after going north, close to Hainan will be a 10-magnitude strong tropical storm, close to Guangdong will be tropical depression, wind has no catastrophic threat to the land. Instead, its rain belt will move generously northwards, sending timely rain to Hainan, Guangdong, Fujian, Taiwan and southern Zhejiang, and there may be heavy rain in Hainan, Guangdong.
Precipitation forecast for the next 10 days, from NMC
Of course, for the Spratly and Paracel Islands, Rey will be a very violent typhoon. On December 18, the Spratly Islands had already experienced more than 12 levels of strong winds and heavy rainstorms, and the Paracels would also be hit by storms and huge waves. We also ask our compatriots stationed in Xisha, Nansha, to pay attention to the movement of the typhoon and to pay attention to safety.