Typhoon Season

So I received this email from the American Institute in Taiwan recently:

Here is the first paragraph:

"The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) recommends that U.S. citizens read the following guidance closely.

May marks the beginning of the annual typhoon season in Taiwan. Taiwan is located in a typhoon corridor and experiences an average of 3-4 typhoons each year.  Typhoons typically occur between May and October.  In most cases, Taiwan authorities and AIT will provide advance warning of an imminent typhoon several days prior to the typhoon’s arrival.  U.S. citizen residents of Taiwan and travelers to Taiwan should prepare in advance.  The following guidance contains good standard response procedures."

With typhoon season upon us in Taiwan, I thought I would write a post about typhoons.

Upon starting this post however, I soon realized that beyond expecting a lot of rain, I don't actually know what a typhoon entails, so I turned to trusty Wikipedia and found, to my surprise, that "The term Typhoon is the regional name in the northwest Pacific for a severe (or mature) tropical cyclone, whereas hurricane is the regional term in the northeast Pacific and northern Atlantic." In other words a typhoon is basically the same thing as a hurricane just in different parts of the sea.

Now being a bit disinclined to rely solely on Wikipedia, I decided to turn to Google, which led me to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which basically told me the same thing: that the only difference between a hurricane and a typhoon (and a cyclone) is the location in which it occurs.

As I also learned in Chinese class, late spring also signifies the beginning of 梅雨季, the East Asian Rainy season (otherwise known in English as Plum Rain, a direct translation of the Chinese name), during which we will experience a lot of cloudy and rainy days. Now I am no meteorologist, so this will be an overly-simplified explanation of what a 梅雨季 is, but basically it is a collision of a cold air mass and a warm Pacific air mass which causes thunderstorms. Now being that Taipei is inland, there is nowhere for this precipitation to go, so the air remains humid. In Taitung and Kaohsiung, both which are by the ocean, it is cooler and less humid because the humid air blows out to sea. That is my understanding of it anyways from what my Chinese professor told us. Haha.

This weather-disturbance starts out over the east China coast, over to Taiwan and Okinawa, where it then shifts northeast over to South Korea and the rest of Japan. Now why is it called the 梅雨 (Plum Rain)? Well according to the Central Weather Bureau, the name 梅雨 is derived from the fact that south of the Yangtze River in China, the continuously rainy months of June and July also happens to be the season for plums. Moreover, the rainy season makes it easier for things to become moldy, hence the name is a play on words, as the word for mold, 霉, and plum, 梅, in Chinese are both pronounced mei.

Another fun little tidbit--the English word typhoon is thought to have partially originated from the Chinese word for a windstorm or a strong wind, 大風 (literally "big wind"), which is pronounced dàfēng in Mandarin and daai6 fung1 in Cantonese.

So if you ever happen to be in Taiwan (or east China or Japan or South Korea) during this rainy season, don't forget to pack your umbrella and rainboots!

Everyday Chinese

• 颱風 (Táifēng) - Typhoon
• 大風 (Mandarin: Dàfēng, Cantonese: Daai6 fung1) - Strong wind, windstorm; thought to have in part been the origin for the English word, "typhoon"
• 梅雨季 (Méiyǔ jì) - East Asian rainy season (literally, "Plum Rain season")