Typhoon Saola (2023)

Typhoon Saola, known in the Philippines as Super Typhoon Goring, was a powerful and destructive tropical cyclone that affected the Philippines, southern Taiwan, and South China in late August 2023. The ninth named storm, seventh typhoon, and third super typhoon of the 2023 typhoon season, Saola originated from an area of convection east of Taiwan and headed southwestwards.

Saola then began a process of rapid intensification while making a looping trend. Although it did not make a direct landfall over Luzon, Saola made a close pass into Central Luzon as a Category 4-equivalent typhoon, bringing gusty winds and heavy rains over the country. It weakened back to a Category 2 typhoon on September 1. After it executed a south-southeastward turn, Saola explosively intensified to Category 5 as it passed over Batanes and by the time it left PAR on August 31, it was still a super typhoon.

Prior to the approach of Saola, the Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) raised the highest signal category in anticipation of the storm, the first time in five years since Mangkhut in 2018. The storm continued to approach closely over Hong Kong and Macau, battering strong gusty winds and heavy rains over the area before weakening and making landfall over Southern China. Economic losses totaled to US$1.35 billion.