Typhoon Fengshen

Typhoon Fengshen is the sixth official tropical cyclone of the 2008 Pacific typhoon season. It left severe damage in the Philippines, resulting in at least 598 deaths and around 700 people missing.

On 18 June an area of low pressure that the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) had been monitoring for a few days was upgraded to Tropical Depression Frank. Later that day both the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) and the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) started issuing full advisories on Frank with the JTWC designating it as Tropical Depression 07W.

Early the next day the JMA upgraded the tropical depression to a tropical storm and assigned the name Fengshen. This name was submitted by the People’s Republic of China and is the Mandarin Chinese name for the God of Wind. Tropical Storm Fengshen then rapidly intensified that day becoming a severe tropical storm by midday and then Fengshen became a typhoon in the JMAs 1800z advisory.

The next day Typhoon Fengshen made landfall in eastern Samar in the central Philippines and travelled northwest over the islands. Fengshen was initially forecasted to go through Bicol Region but later on shifted its course further westward, eventually going towards the direction of Mindoro Province. However, before even reaching Mindoro it again shifted its direction northward towards the direction of Metro Manila, mainly because of the weakening of the High Pressure area system in the northern part of the Philippines.

Typhoon Frank crossed Metro Manila between 5 am and 6 am Sunday. This was confirmed by eyewitness reports of the weather becoming suddenly calm after strong winds and rains in Quezon City, Marikina and other nearby areas.

Typhoon Fengshen, after creating havoc in the Philippines, traveled through South China sea early on 23 June and was heading northwards towards China. Soon after moving into the South China Sea the JMA and PAGASA downgraded it to a severe tropical storm while the JTWC downgraded Fengshen from a Typhoon to a Tropical Storm. PAGASA then issued its final advisory on Tropical Storm Fengshen (Frank) due to Fengshen leaving PAGASA's Area of Responsabilty.

Around 24 June 22:00 UTC, Tropical Storm Fengshen landed at Shenzhen, Guangdong, entering Mainland China, ravages Hong Kong too. The JTWC announced their final warning later that day.