Typhoon Shadel Makes Rare Third Landfall in China

Typhoon Shadel, the 18th typhoon of the 2026 season, made its third landfall on Chinese territory early Thursday morning, striking the coastal area of Gulei in Zhangpu County, Zhangzhou City, Fujian Province at approximately 6:30 AM local time. The storm arrived as a tropical storm with maximum winds of level 9 (23 m/s) and a minimum central pressure of 985 hPa, according to Xinhua News.

The third landfall marks the culmination of an extraordinary meteorological journey that has seen Shadel strike China’s eastern seaboard twice in Zhejiang Province before re-strengthening over the South China Sea and returning to make landfall again in Fujian.

An Unprecedented Path

Shadel’s first landfall occurred on August 28 at approximately 8:05 AM at Kamen Street coastal area in Yuhuan City, Taizhou, Zhejiang Province, where it arrived as a typhoon-level storm with maximum winds of 12 levels (35 m/s). Just over an hour later, at approximately 9:10 AM, the storm made its second landfall in Longwan District, Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province, as reported by Xinhua.

The location of Shadel’s first landfall carries particular significance. Kamen Street in Yuhuan is the exact same location where Typhoon Bavi (No. 9) made landfall on July 11 and Typhoon Baihaitun (No. 13) struck on August 9. Three typhoons landing at the same street within a single year is unprecedented in Chinese meteorological records, as Guancha.cn detailed in its analysis of the phenomenon.

Historical data underscores just how unusual this clustering is. From 1949 to 2025, 51 typhoons made landfall in Zhejiang Province. Only twice in history — in 1972 in Pingyang and 2009 in Cangnan — did two typhoons land in the same county in a single year. The previous record for three typhoons in one year in Zhejiang was set in 2004, but those storms landed in three different counties. Three typhoons of level 12 or higher strength striking the same precise coastal point within 50 days is a first in Zhejiang’s meteorological history.

The Revival Phenomenon

What makes Shadel’s story particularly remarkable is its ability to come back from apparent dissipation. On August 30, the typhoon weakened and was de-numbered after its circulation center became difficult to determine over Guangxi. However, its residual vortex moved into the South China Sea and re-strengthened into a typhoon in the early morning of September 1. The Central Meteorological Observatory maintained the original typhoon name Shadel and number 2618.

Xu Yinglong, chief forecaster at the Central Meteorological Observatory, explained the mechanism behind this rare revival. As reported by Guangming Daily, Xu noted that the key condition for Shadel’s residual vortex to revive after entering the sea was the change in underlying surface conditions — specifically, moving from land to warm ocean surface, where friction is reduced and new energy is gained for development.

This phenomenon, while uncommon, has historical precedents. Typhoon Zhujiecao (No. 8) in 2025 revived after weakening north of Taiwan, Typhoon Hagibis (No. 7) in 2014 re-strengthened after emerging from Fujian, and Typhoon Nari (No. 16) in 2001 redeveloped in the northeastern South China Sea after hitting Taiwan.

Widespread Emergency Response

The third landfall triggered extensive emergency measures across Fujian Province. Fujian had already raised its flood control emergency response to Level III and activated a Level IV typhoon emergency response on September 1, as Xinhua reported. By August 28, the province had deployed 137,700 officials to grassroots levels and evacuated 247,700 people from dangerous maritime and land areas, according to Xinhua.

On September 2 at 6 PM, Chinese authorities issued a coordinated series of warnings. The Ministry of Water Resources and China Meteorological Administration jointly issued a RED mountain flood warning, the Ministry of Natural Resources and CMA jointly issued an ORANGE geological disaster risk warning, and the CMA continued issuing a YELLOW heavy rain warning and a BLUE typhoon warning, as reported by CCTV.

Local authorities implemented the “three stops one rest” protocol — stopping work, stopping production, stopping classes, and closing markets — across Zhangpu, Zhao’an, and Dongshan counties in Fujian. All kindergartens, primary schools, secondary schools, vocational schools, universities, training institutions, and practice bases in Fuzhou and Quanzhou cities suspended all educational activities. In Xiamen, all ferry services including the Xiamen-Longhai line, Xiamen-Kinmen route, Quanzhou-Kinmen route, and Xiamen-Zhangzhou ferry were suspended from September 3, according to CCTV reporting via Jinan Times.

Heavy Rainfall Threat

The Central Meteorological Observatory forecast heavy rainstorms from 8:00 AM September 3 to 8:00 AM September 4 across eastern and southern Fujian, southern Jiangxi, eastern Guangdong, and southern and northeastern Taiwan. Extreme rainstorms of 250-360 mm are expected in southeastern Fujian and eastern Guangdong, raising significant concerns about mountain floods, geological disasters, and urban waterlogging.

The rainfall threat extends beyond the immediate landfall area. The combination of typhoon rainfall with the monsoon trough and cold air creates a complex and potentially dangerous weather situation across a wide swath of southern China.

A Busy September Ahead

The 2026 typhoon season has been unusually active for China’s eastern coast, and forecasters expect the activity to continue. Gao Rong, deputy director of the National Climate Center, predicts that 2-3 more typhoons will make landfall or significantly affect China in September, with generally stronger intensity. These storms are expected to mainly affect eastern and southern coastal areas, with a risk of stronger typhoons moving north to affect northern regions.

The year falls in an El Nino development cycle, which historically accounts for about one-third of typhoons hitting Zhejiang since 1949. The strong and stable subtropical high this year has acted like a conveyor belt directing typhoons toward the Zhejiang coast, contributing to the unprecedented clustering of storms at Yuhuan’s Kamen Street.

Looking Forward

As Shadel gradually weakens after its third landfall, attention now turns to the full extent of damage across Fujian and Guangdong and the ongoing threat of heavy rainfall and potential secondary disasters. The unprecedented 2026 typhoon season raises important questions about the long-term patterns of typhoon behavior in the Western Pacific and the potential impacts of climate change on storm frequency and intensity.

For the coastal communities of eastern and southern China, the immediate priority remains safety — staying informed of the latest warnings and avoiding dangerous areas as the region continues to contend with one of the most extraordinary typhoon seasons on record.