Typhoon Meranti

The island of Itbayat sustained a direct hit from the super typhoon near its peak intensity, severing communications from the island for several days. However, no fatalities were reported on the island. The typhoon caused ₱244.99 million (US$5.16 million) in damage on the island. However, the most costly and direct impacts were felt in eastern China, where 45 people were killed from floods. Total economic cost in China reached ¥31.78 billion (US$4.76 billion). In total, Meranti caused US$4.79 billion in damage and killed 47 people.

During its lifetime, Meranti broke or tied several meteorological records. With JTWC-estimated 1-minute sustained winds of 315 km/h (195 mph), Meranti is tied with Haiyan in 2013, Goni in 2020 and Surigae in 2021 as the strongest typhoon on record by wind speed. Additionally, in terms of 1-minute sustained winds, the storm's landfall on the island of Itbayat shortly after peak intensity ties it with Haiyan as the second strongest landfalling tropical cyclone on record, only behind Goni. The estimated pressure of 890 mbar (26 inHg) was also the lowest on record in the Western Pacific since Megi in 2010.

Meteorological history

On September 8, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) issued a Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert for an area of convection about 155 km (96 mi) west of Guam in the western Pacific Ocean. According to the agency, the circulation was rapidly consolidating alongside fragmented rainbands. At 18:00 UTC that night, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) classified the system as a tropical depression. On the next day, the JTWC classified it as Tropical Depression 16W. By that time, the nascent system was moving slowly west-northwestward through a region of low wind shear, steered by ridges to the north and southwest. Increasing but fragmented convection, or thunderstorms, was fueled by unusually warm water temperatures and outflow from the south. At 06:00 UTC on September 10, the JMA upgraded the depression to Tropical Storm Meranti, which meandered over its own track while consolidating.

Northerly wind shear shifted the deepest convection to the south of Meranti's circulation, although rainbands and a central dense overcast continued to evolve as the wind shear decreased. By early on September 11, the storm's movement was steady to the west-northwest, south of the ridge. At 06:00 UTC that day, the JMA upgraded Meranti to typhoon status, and shortly thereafter the JTWC followed suit. The storm's structure continued to improve, with increased outflow. A small eye 9 km (5.6 mi) across developed within the spiraling thunderstorms, signaling that Meranti was rapidly intensifying. At 06:00 UTC on September 12, the JTWC upgraded Meranti to a super typhoon, with 1-minute maximum sustained winds of 240 km/h (150 mph). Six hours later, the JTWC estimated 1-minute sustained winds of 285 km/h (180 mph), equivalent to Category 5 on the Saffir–Simpson scale, while noting "an extremely favorable environment", and that the eye became even more symmetric within intense convection. Outflow enhanced by a strong anticyclone over Meranti fueled the intensification, and the typhoon peaked in intensity on September 13 while passing through the Luzon Strait.

The JMA estimated peak 10-minute sustained winds of 220 km/h (140 mph) and a minimum barometric pressure of 890 hPa (mbar; 26.28 inHg), while the JTWC estimated peak 1-minute sustained winds of 315 km/h (195 mph). Based on the JMA pressure estimate, Meranti was among the most intense tropical cyclones. The JTWC wind estimate made Meranti the strongest tropical cyclone by wind speed worldwide in 2016, surpassing Cyclone Winston, which had peak sustained winds of 285 km/h (180 mph) when it struck Fiji in February. Late on September 13, the storm made landfall on the 83 km² (32 sq mi) island of Itbayat in the Philippine province of Batanes shortly after attaining its peak intensity, with 1-minute sustained winds of 305 km/h (190 mph). A weather station on the island measured 10-minute sustained winds of 180 km/h (110 mph) and a concurrent pressure of 933.6 mbar (27.57 inHg) around 17:00 UTC before being destroyed. Just south of Itbayat in Basco, sustained winds peaked at 144 km/h (89 mph), gusts reached 252 km/h (157 mph), and a minimum pressure of 935.4 mbar (27.62 inHg) was observed in the eyewall.

At around 03:15 CST on September 15 (19:15 UTC on September 14), Meranti slammed into the Xiang'an District, Xiamen, Fujian, with measured 2-minute sustained winds of 173 km/h (107 mph), making it the second strongest typhoon ever to make landfall in Fujian Province.

The system then degraded to a tropical depression by September 15, and subsequently transitioned into an extratropical cyclone near the Yangtze River delta on September 16. The remnants continued northeastward before dissipating near the Korean Peninsula on September 17.