Tropical storm Wutip has weakened to a tropical depression and
may land on east China's Fujian Province at Thursday night,
according to the meteorological observatory of Zhejiang.
By 4:00 PM Thursday, Wutip, packing winds of 54 kilometers per
hour, was located at 23.6 degrees north and 119.4 degrees east and
about 170 kilometers from Xiamen city. It was moving westwards at a
speed of 30 kilometers per hour.
Wutip, meaning "butterfly", is set to unleash gales and rain in
Fujian and neighboring Zhejiang province from late Thursday through
to Friday.
Ships on the three sea routes between Fujian and Taiwan have
suspended services since Wednesday. The authorities have yet to
decide when they will be reopened.
Pabuk, which had weakened into a tropical depression, regained
force to become a tropical storm again on Thursday morning, and may
make a landfall in south China's Guangdong Province in the
afternoon or evening.
Tropical storm Pabuk turned to be a tropical depression at 8:00
PM Wednesday and turned into a tropical storm 12 hours later, said
Lu Shan, chief forecaster of the Guangzhou observatory.
"Pabuk packing wind of 20 meters per second was moving at a
speed of 20 km per hour to the west coastlines of Guangdong
Province," Lu said. Pabuk did not make a landfall in Shantou,
Guangdong Province on Wednesday evening as forecast.
While Wutip is bringing rain to east China, together with
tropical storm Pabuk, it has caused high temperature in south
China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, according to local
meteorological experts.
In Guilin, the temperature reached 44.7 degrees Celsius,
aggravating the drought.
More than 320,000 people in the city and 80,000 cattle are
facing a shortage of drinking water. The drought has also affected
57,000 hectares of crops in Guilin.
China has entered a period of extreme weather. Two people were
killed and 68 injured, including two seriously, in Yitong County,
northeast China's Jilin Province, in a tornado at about 8:50 PM on
Wednesday.
The tornado struck five villages and two townships, destroying
586 homes.
(Xinhua News Agency August 9, 2007)