Typhoon Dolphin made landfall on the eastern coast of China on Sunday night, bringing extreme winds and torrential rain [1, 2].
As the strongest storm of 2026, the cyclone forced massive evacuations and disrupted critical infrastructure across several provinces, highlighting the region's vulnerability to intensifying Pacific weather patterns [1, 3].
The center of the storm moved over the coastline near Yuhuan City in Zhejiang province [7]. At the time of landfall, the typhoon recorded Force 13 winds, reaching approximately 85 mph [6]. The storm's impact extended across Zhejiang and Fujian provinces, and reached as far as Shanghai [2, 5].
Authorities ordered the evacuation of more than one million people to avoid potential floods and landslides [3]. In Shanghai, the storm triggered a red alert, leading to the cancellation of nearly 60% of flights [2]. Nationally, more than 1,000 flights were cancelled as the storm approached [5].
Before reaching China, Typhoon Dolphin impacted Japan's Okinawa prefecture. Six people were injured there, and more than 50,000 buildings lost power [1].
Local officials issued warnings for landslides and flooding as the storm dumped heavy rain across the eastern coast [1, 2]. The system intensified over the Pacific before striking the mainland, marking it as the most powerful tropical cyclone of the year [1, 4].
“Typhoon Dolphin made landfall on the eastern coast of China on Sunday night”
The scale of the evacuations and the intensity of Typhoon Dolphin underscore the increasing challenge of managing extreme weather events in densely populated coastal hubs like Shanghai and Zhejiang. The disruption to air travel and power grids across both China and Japan demonstrates the wide geographical reach of this year's strongest storm, placing significant pressure on regional disaster response frameworks.
