Landward Acceleration of Tropical Cyclones Making Landfall Along the South China Coast

Quanjia Zhong; Wansuo Duan; Shifei Tu; Yongjie Huang; Johnny C. L. Chan; Ruiqiang Ding

doi:10.1029/2025GL119733

Landward Acceleration of Tropical Cyclones Making Landfall Along the South China Coast

Quanjia Zhong
, Wansuo Duan
, Shifei Tu
, Yongjie Huang
, Johnny C. L. Chan
, Ruiqiang Ding

School of Energy and Environment

Research output: Journal Publications and Reviews › RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal › peer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

3 Downloads (CityUHK Scholars)

Abstract

Accurate forecasts of near-landfall TC characteristics (direction, translation speed, and intensity) are essential for timely disaster preparedness. Using best-track data (1951–2023), this study reveals a significant pre-landfall acceleration of TCs along the South China coast, with translation speed increasing by 35.5% and 16.4% during the 24 hr prior to landfall for eastbound and westbound cases, respectively. This acceleration is primarily contributed by the normal component of the translation vector. For westbound TCs, translation speed and its normal component increase with intensity, particularly at typhoon strength and above. Numerical simulations and diagnostic analyses attribute the acceleration to horizontal advection and diabatic heating, primarily driven by land-induced asymmetric flow and convection. These findings strengthen the current understanding of TC motion dynamics and support more effective disaster prevention and mitigation strategies as TCs approach coastal regions. © 2026 The Author(s).

Original language	English
Article number	e2025GL119733
Number of pages	9
Journal	Geophysical Research Letters
Volume	53
Issue number	4
Online published	13 Feb 2026
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1029/2025GL119733
Publication status	Published - 28 Feb 2026

Funding

This research was jointly supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grants 42225501 and 42105059) and the Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Science Research Foundation (Grant 2024A1515010714). The first author was also supported by the Area of Excellence Scheme of the Hong Kong Research Grants Council (Grant/Award AoE/P-601/23-N) and the Center for Ocean Research in Hong Kong and Macau (CORE). CORE is a joint research center between Laoshan Laboratory and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. We are grateful to Dr. Huadong Yang and Dr. Yecheng Feng for helpful discussions.

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities

Research Keywords

landward acceleration
potential vorticity tendency
translation speed
tropical cyclones motion

Publisher's Copyright Statement

This full text is made available under CC-BY-NC 4.0. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

RGC Funding Information

RGC-funded

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10.1029/2025GL119733

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title = "Landward Acceleration of Tropical Cyclones Making Landfall Along the South China Coast",

abstract = "Accurate forecasts of near-landfall TC characteristics (direction, translation speed, and intensity) are essential for timely disaster preparedness. Using best-track data (1951–2023), this study reveals a significant pre-landfall acceleration of TCs along the South China coast, with translation speed increasing by 35.5\% and 16.4\% during the 24 hr prior to landfall for eastbound and westbound cases, respectively. This acceleration is primarily contributed by the normal component of the translation vector. For westbound TCs, translation speed and its normal component increase with intensity, particularly at typhoon strength and above. Numerical simulations and diagnostic analyses attribute the acceleration to horizontal advection and diabatic heating, primarily driven by land-induced asymmetric flow and convection. These findings strengthen the current understanding of TC motion dynamics and support more effective disaster prevention and mitigation strategies as TCs approach coastal regions. {\textcopyright} 2026 The Author(s).",

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AU - Zhong, Quanjia

AU - Duan, Wansuo

AU - Tu, Shifei

AU - Huang, Yongjie

AU - Chan, Johnny C. L.

AU - Ding, Ruiqiang

PY - 2026/2/28

Y1 - 2026/2/28

N2 - Accurate forecasts of near-landfall TC characteristics (direction, translation speed, and intensity) are essential for timely disaster preparedness. Using best-track data (1951–2023), this study reveals a significant pre-landfall acceleration of TCs along the South China coast, with translation speed increasing by 35.5% and 16.4% during the 24 hr prior to landfall for eastbound and westbound cases, respectively. This acceleration is primarily contributed by the normal component of the translation vector. For westbound TCs, translation speed and its normal component increase with intensity, particularly at typhoon strength and above. Numerical simulations and diagnostic analyses attribute the acceleration to horizontal advection and diabatic heating, primarily driven by land-induced asymmetric flow and convection. These findings strengthen the current understanding of TC motion dynamics and support more effective disaster prevention and mitigation strategies as TCs approach coastal regions. © 2026 The Author(s).

AB - Accurate forecasts of near-landfall TC characteristics (direction, translation speed, and intensity) are essential for timely disaster preparedness. Using best-track data (1951–2023), this study reveals a significant pre-landfall acceleration of TCs along the South China coast, with translation speed increasing by 35.5% and 16.4% during the 24 hr prior to landfall for eastbound and westbound cases, respectively. This acceleration is primarily contributed by the normal component of the translation vector. For westbound TCs, translation speed and its normal component increase with intensity, particularly at typhoon strength and above. Numerical simulations and diagnostic analyses attribute the acceleration to horizontal advection and diabatic heating, primarily driven by land-induced asymmetric flow and convection. These findings strengthen the current understanding of TC motion dynamics and support more effective disaster prevention and mitigation strategies as TCs approach coastal regions. © 2026 The Author(s).

KW - landward acceleration

KW - potential vorticity tendency

KW - translation speed

KW - tropical cyclones motion

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DO - 10.1029/2025GL119733

M3 - RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal

SN - 0094-8276

VL - 53

JO - Geophysical Research Letters

JF - Geophysical Research Letters

IS - 4

M1 - e2025GL119733

ER -

Landward Acceleration of Tropical Cyclones Making Landfall Along the South China Coast

Abstract

Funding

UN SDGs

Research Keywords

Publisher's Copyright Statement

RGC Funding Information

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