Key Takeaways
- Typhoon Bavi (PAGASA name: Inday) hit Rota in the Northern Mariana Islands on July 6 at peak Category 5-equivalent strength — JTWC-assessed 1-minute winds of 285 km/h (180 mph), among the strongest storms ever recorded there.
- By the time it reached China on July 11, Bavi had weakened dramatically, making landfall in Yuhuan, Zhejiang Province — well south of Shanghai — with 10-minute sustained winds of 144 km/h (90 mph).
- More than 1.7 million people were evacuated across Zhejiang, with additional evacuations in Fujian and Shanghai as authorities issued China’s first Red Rainstorm Warning of 2026.
- Enhanced monsoon rains linked to Bavi triggered fatal landslides in the southern Philippines, with at least 17 deaths and over 514,000 people affected.
- Bavi was the ninth named typhoon of the 2026 western Pacific season and the second storm to threaten China within a week, following Typhoon Maysak.
A Storm That Peaked Early
Bavi’s most violent phase came well before it ever threatened mainland China. After undergoing an eyewall replacement cycle in early July that briefly interrupted its intensification, the storm reorganized and struck Rota, in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, on July 6 at its maximum strength. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center clocked 1-minute sustained winds at 285 km/h (180 mph) with a central pressure of 901 hPa — Category 5-equivalent on the Saffir-Simpson scale and among the most powerful cyclones on record to directly strike the islands. Japan’s meteorological agency, which uses a different measurement standard, put sustained winds at 205 km/h (125 mph).
Satellite imagery suggested the eye passed directly over Rota, and early reports described widespread power outages, flash flooding, downed trees, and structural damage across Rota, Guam, Tinian, and Saipan. Recovery was complicated by the fact that some communities were still rebuilding from Super Typhoon Sinlaku earlier in the year — Rota’s West Harbor, still under repair from that storm, needed further inspection after Bavi passed.
Rapid Weakening on the Approach to China
Rather than maintaining its peak intensity, Bavi underwent additional eyewall replacement cycles and encountered cooler waters and increasing wind shear as it tracked northwestward. By July 8, while still a dangerous Category 4-equivalent system over the Philippine Sea, its winds had already dropped to around 250 km/h (155 mph). The weakening trend continued as the storm moved over the East China Sea, where declining ocean heat content sapped its strength further.
This is the detail that separates the storm’s actual China impact from its Rota peak: Bavi did not slam into the Shanghai region at super typhoon intensity. It made landfall in Yuhuan City, Zhejiang Province — south of Shanghai, near the Fujian border — at approximately 11:20 p.m. local time on July 11, with 10-minute sustained winds measured at 144 km/h (90 mph), a strong but no longer catastrophic typhoon by the time it reached the mainland.
China’s Response and Regional Fallout
Even at reduced strength, Bavi prompted one of the larger coordinated evacuation efforts of the season. Zhejiang authorities moved more than 1.7 million people ahead of landfall, Fujian evacuated over 100,000 residents and placed more than 17,000 emergency workers on standby, and Shanghai relocated roughly 34,000 people from high-risk areas as the storm’s outer rainbands approached the municipality. China’s National Meteorological Center maintained an Orange Typhoon Warning and issued the country’s first Red Rainstorm Warning of 2026, its highest-level rain alert.
The storm compounded a difficult stretch for China’s disaster response network: Bavi arrived only a week after Typhoon Maysak made landfall in the south, where a breached dam in Nanning contributed to at least 39 deaths. Flights were cancelled across the region, rail service was curtailed, and schools and ferry operations were suspended in the storm’s path.
Bavi’s reach extended well beyond China. Before its final approach, the storm swept past northern Taiwan, causing more than 100 weather-related injuries — mostly from motorcycle accidents on rain-slicked roads — and widespread transportation disruption. In the southern Philippines, Bavi never made direct landfall but enhanced the seasonal southwest monsoon (habagat), triggering landslides that killed at least 17 people, left several missing, and affected more than 514,000 residents, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council. Okinawa Prefecture also evacuated tens of thousands of residents as a precaution.
Why This Storm Matters for the Region
Bavi’s track illustrates a pattern regional planners are watching closely this season: storms peaking in intensity over open ocean, then weakening before landfall but still forcing evacuations on a scale reserved for direct super typhoon hits. The economic toll — port closures, flight cancellations, and disrupted manufacturing and logistics across Zhejiang and Fujian — is still being tallied, though it’s unlikely to approach worst-case projections modeled when Bavi was still tracking at peak strength toward the coast.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did Typhoon Bavi make landfall in Shanghai? No. Bavi came ashore in Yuhuan, Zhejiang Province, south of Shanghai near the Fujian border. Shanghai itself evacuated about 34,000 residents as a precaution from the storm’s outer bands but was not the landfall point.
How strong was Typhoon Bavi at its strongest? At peak intensity over Rota on July 6, JTWC assessed 1-minute sustained winds of 285 km/h (180 mph), making it a Category 5-equivalent super typhoon — among the strongest storms on record to hit the Northern Mariana Islands.
How much did Typhoon Bavi weaken before hitting China? Substantially. Sustained winds dropped from a peak of 285 km/h (180 mph, 1-minute standard) to 144 km/h (90 mph, 10-minute standard) at its China landfall — a reduction driven by repeated eyewall replacement cycles, wind shear, and cooler ocean waters.
How many people were evacuated ahead of Bavi in China? More than 1.7 million in Zhejiang Province alone, with over 100,000 additional evacuations in Fujian and roughly 34,000 in Shanghai.
Was Typhoon Bavi related to the Philippines flooding and landslides? Yes. Although Bavi (local name Inday) stayed offshore of the Philippines, it enhanced the southwest monsoon, intensifying rainfall that triggered landslides responsible for at least 17 deaths.
Closing Analysis
Bavi is expected to continue weakening as it tracks inland over China before dissipating within roughly two days, though some models suggest its remnants could retain limited tropical characteristics if they re-emerge over the Yellow Sea. The immediate priorities are damage assessments in Rota, where full inspections were still underway days after the peak strike, and inland flooding risk across Zhejiang and Fujian as the storm’s heavy rain bands move over land. With Bavi following so closely behind Typhoon Maysak, regional disaster-response capacity — not just storm intensity — is becoming the story to watch for the remainder of the 2026 season.
