Pacific Ocean | Super Typhoon Yagi Approaches China, Ranked as Strongest Typhoon in 2024

Arab Weather - The latest weather maps, especially those specialized in tracking hurricanes at the "Arab Weather" Center, indicate that the violent hurricane Yagi is already developing into a dangerous fourth-degree tropical hurricane, with strong wind speeds reaching 240 km/h so far and violent gusts approaching 300 km/h, making it the strongest tropical hurricane in 2024.

Weather forecasters at Arab Weather said that Cyclone Yagi is classified as a dangerous storm and carries with it very strong winds and huge amounts of rain. After hitting the Philippines in the past few days, China is preparing for the arrival of Cyclone Yagi, whose center is currently located 341 km from Hong Kong, where expectations indicate that it may be classified as one of the strongest storms in nearly a decade.

The latest weather forecasts indicate that Typhoon Yagi is moving westward at a speed of up to 9 km/h, heading towards the southern provinces of China, to strongly affect Guangdong and Hainan, where it is expected to make landfall between Qinghai and Dianbei tomorrow, Friday.

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Later yesterday, authorities suspended train and boat traffic in Hainan, and schools were closed across southern China, including in Hong Kong and Macau. The alert level may be raised to level three in Hong Kong. In Hainan's Haikou, all flights were cancelled from Thursday evening to Friday midnight, and beaches and tourist sites were closed.

The strongest hurricane in 74 years

Experts said that Typhoon Yagi is expected to hit Hainan Island at the end of the week in a rare weather event, as archival records indicate that the number of strong typhoons that hit the land is 9 typhoons out of 106 typhoons from 1949 to 2023.

Warm waters in the Pacific Ocean helped the hurricane develop rapidly.

According to the latest weather data, Typhoon Yagi was a tropical storm for just one day with maximum wind speeds of 90 km/h. The high surface water temperature in the area where the typhoon formed helped it develop remarkably and rapidly, and it is expected to make landfall on Friday evening, affecting the southwestern parts of China.

The following are the latest weather observations received by the Arab Weather Center regarding Hurricane Yagi:

• Maximum wind: 240 km/h
• Highest wind gusts: 295 km/h
• Location: 115 North, 19 East
• Movement: 9 km/h

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