Typhoon Dolphin made two landfalls along China’s Zhejiang coast before weakening, yet the storm’s aftermath continued to inflict widespread disruption across eastern and central China on August 10, 2026 — grounding nearly 1,000 flights, suspending rail services, and triggering the country’s most severe flash flood warnings in multiple provinces.
Storm Chronology and Immediate Disruption
Typhoon Dolphin struck Zhejiang province twice before losing intensity, prompting China’s National Meteorological Centre (NMC) to downgrade its typhoon alert to the least severe level by the morning of August 10. Despite the downgrade, the NMC warned that heavy rainfall would continue to affect parts of eastern and central China for at least another 24 hours.
The storm’s most quantifiable impact centred on Shanghai. The city’s two main passenger airports recorded 943 flight cancellations, according to a statement published by the airport authority. Multiple local train services across the financial hub were suspended, compounding travel disruption for commuters and passengers alike.
Zhejiang’s Ningbo International Airport announced it would resume flight operations from midday local time — 0400 GMT — but cautioned that delays and further cancellations remained possible as the typhoon’s effects had “not yet completely dissipated.” In Hangzhou, the provincial capital, subway services were restored in the morning following a halt the previous day.
Flash Flood Alerts and Northern China Risk
State broadcaster CCTV reported that authorities issued the most severe flash flood alert for parts of eastern and southern Zhejiang on August 10, underscoring that the danger to life had not passed with the storm’s weakening.
The threat extended well beyond the typhoon’s immediate path. Five districts in Beijing activated red alerts for heavy rain, with some warnings specifically referencing risks of landslides and flooding. Northern China as a whole was placed on notice for extreme weather conditions through the remainder of the week.
The Typhoon Dolphin episode had already triggered a top-level alert over the preceding weekend, resulting in more than 1,000 flight cancellations and the evacuation of tens of thousands of residents before the storm’s landfall.
Context: A Deadly Season of Successive Storms
Typhoon Dolphin is the latest in a sequence of destructive weather systems to strike China in the 2026 typhoon season. The storm arrived approximately two weeks after Typhoon Noul made landfall in southern Guangdong province — an event Chinese authorities described at the time as the strongest typhoon to hit the country that year.
Prior to Noul, Typhoon Maysak caused significant loss of life across southern and central China. In the southern Guangxi region, Maysak-triggered floods killed 39 people. The same storm generated thunderstorms and gale-force winds that killed 11 and injured 331 in the central province of Hubei.
The succession of high-impact storms reflects a broader pattern that climate scientists have been tracking with increasing urgency. Researchers warn that both the intensity and frequency of extreme weather events are expected to escalate as global temperatures rise due to continued fossil fuel combustion.
China’s Position at the Intersection of Emissions and Clean Energy
China presents a dual profile in global climate discussions. The country is the world’s single largest emitter of greenhouse gases — a status that places it at the centre of international negotiations over emissions reductions. At the same time, China has emerged as a dominant force in global renewable energy deployment, with national targets calling for the economy to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.
The repeated battering of China’s eastern seaboard by increasingly powerful typhoons adds urgency to that long-term decarbonisation agenda. For communities in Zhejiang, Shanghai, Hubei, and Guangxi, however, the immediate concern remains flood recovery, transit restoration, and the return of normalcy after yet another punishing storm season.
Reporting based on AFP dispatches and official statements from China’s National Meteorological Centre, CCTV, and Shanghai airport authorities. All figures reflect conditions as of August 10, 2026.
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