It's a reminder how typhoons can go off script at the critical moment - especially when approaching land. Ilanders would not have been expecting the impact they had, nor the duration.
Power poles were snapped, so it takes serious wind to do that.

I did have a brush with danger when walking down the street an hour ago - a large metal food warming tray came hurtling towards me. Luckily, i had paused a couple of steps short of impact to open my umbrella, otherwise would have copped it in the head. Anyway, very Taiwanese-style incident.

LOL! That's definitely a Taiwan moment. Just watch out for the AC units falling from the 12th floor (but I guess that's an earthquake thing.)

Some decent wind-gusts when walking on the street - stuff flying around.

Typhoons are all about gusts of wind - slithering dragons that come roaring through - with a start & an end.
The core winds are a lot of slithering dragons, bigger ones, but it's the same pattern, just more of them.

The issue of burying the lines comes up regularly in various forums and the reason for not doing it is always the same - lack of funds.

They're doing it in some countries - Netherlands, Germany, a lot of Taiwan's power-lines are underground - plus it's cost efficient in the long run - but that's not the model most govs work on.

Typhoon day-off declared for Taipei as Champi closes in - right on time for my first day/night in the new digs - so something of an omen for an old typhoon chaser.

In fact, it might be 'the perfect storm' - a few big gusts, some excitement, but nothing too crazy.

I did have a brush with danger when walking down the street an hour ago - a large metal food warming tray came hurtling towards me. Luckily, i had paused a couple of steps short of impact to open my umbrella, otherwise would have copped it in the head. Anyway, very Taiwanese-style incident.

Peak closeness for Champi is expected some time around this evening, before it starts to veer north.

We only lost electric for 20 hours or so. Now THAT'S a record!

The eye passed just south of the island. If it had been a direct hit, this would be a very different story and I'c probably be cussing the idiots in charge! (After Mawar a couple years ago, people were without power for over a month.)

Why the fuck they don't put power lines underground in storm/fire prone regions is a bug-bear of mine from Australia.
Not only is it myopic economics - it's dangerous (when they can't stop crapping on about keeping us safe).

They'd rather keep wasting money on patchwork maintenance (which we pay for), than do the job properly/save ma$$ively in the long-run.

Somehow the maintenance ORG grew to a size where it's own existence/expansion became its primary drive.
Seems to be a rule of ORGS generally - a survival instinct - get a foothold of influence, then do everything to protect/grow that influence.
Actual morality or good-practice slides down to meaningless PR platitudes to be spouted.

Anyway, well done on getting through ... again.
Heard of 'trial-by-fire', but that's the full 'trial-by-typhoon'.
Three is a freaky amount of major typhoons for anywhere in a season - let alone a tiny island in the Pacific that doesn't usually get hit by storms with such full-heads-of-steam.

At least you should have the drill down-pat. Hopefully, your power hangs on this time.

We certainly do, but more importantly it appears the local government and utilities are keeping their response procedures well oiled and primed. We only lost electric for 20 hours or so. Now THAT'S a record!

Frightening how big this storm is compared to your island. It does indeed look like you're right in the firing line.

The eye passed just south of the island. If it had been a direct hit, this would be a very different story and I'c probably be cussing the idiots in charge! (After Mawar a couple years ago, people were without power for over a month.)

That's gotta be a world record - three major typhoons in one year for your neck of the woods. Not bad going for a speck in the ocean. At least you should have the drill down-pat. Hopefully, your power hangs on this time.

El Nino became a laughing stock in Australia as the dire predictions of a super-drought turned into an above average wet year, but maybe it's making its presence felt elsewhere in terms of easterly typhoon activity? Either that or weather manipulation by CCP.

CWA has Champi recurving just before making landfall in northern Taiwan, though as i'm on the 27F, guess it will still be windy.

Frightening how big this storm is compared to your island. It does indeed look like you're right in the firing line.

Champi is intensifying more rapidly than predicted a few hours ago and now it's forecast to be a super typhoon when it hits us in a few hours. It will really be hitting us starting around 4AM, in about six hours, then all day tomorrow.

Back living in Taiwan - where it's been a long time since a typhoon seriously impacted the north.

Yesterday's CWA forecast still had it recurving before Taiwan but we'll see.

How's it shaping up in Guam?

We've had a 10-year average of storms in one season. Guam typically goes 3-5 years between storms. We've had three in the last few months. And there's one lining up after Champi.

Not a big typhoon & not seeing any reports of massive rain so far, but that's a weird-arsed track.

I think sometimes they do know what they're doing, but just want to look stupid as shit.

Right. The hardest thing is seeing the forest, when you're being bombarded with trees.

With all the typhoon activity flying around, it could be yet another year with northern Taiwan not copping a big-one. It might still be revving up for a late season spurt, but it's been several years - can't remember a longer period of no major activity.

On the cloud-seeding, apparently drones are the delivery device of choice these days - coz they're much cheaper & allow more focused targeting.

My faith as to whether these agencies really know what the fuck they are doing - or understand potential collateral effects - is less than zero.

I read somewhere that a previous Republican stretegist or advisor to Trump said that one of their tactics was to dump so much stupid shit on the people that nobody knows really what's going on or is always focusing on the small stuff. This whole 'Lake America' crap is an example. Nothing else was in the headlines for a few days. My point is, I think sometimes they do know what they're doing, but just want to look stupid as shit.

Regardless of the forces at work, this is shaping up to be a very active and unusual storm season. Hawaii is getting another fly by on Monday after many years of no activity. Looks like southern Japan is going to get walloped.

Given that typhoons (low pressure systems) slide along the boundaries of high pressure systems, it would seem that you'd have to control that high pressure ridge in order to control the direction of a typhoon.
You could do that by weakening or strengthening it - but not sure how you'd achieve that effect.

You're right that weather manipulation is not some out-there conspiracy theory - it's actually well-known, been going on for yonks. It's not a big stretch to think that all the cloud-seeding already done could have an accumulative effect causing unintended consequences.

Apart from cloud-seeding, there's also a thing called cloud-brightening, which has been trialled in Australia over the Great Barrier Reef. It involves blasting salt crystals into the air (separated under pressure from ocean water), which is meant to create a cooling effect above the reef.

My faith as to whether these agencies really know what the fuck they are doing - or understand potential collateral effects - is less than zero.

EDIT: This makes me wonder if it's possible to affect weather by manipulating high pressure systems. Wouldn't that be a way to control the path of a low pressure system?

Project Cirrus, 1947–1948: The U.S. military and General Electric attempted to weaken or redirect hurricanes by seeding them. One storm, Hurricane King, was seeded in 1947. It later changed direction and hit Savannah, Georgia, leading to public controversy and lawsuits, although scientists could not establish that the seeding caused the change. The project was eventually abandoned.

Operation Popeye, 1967–1972: During the Vietnam War, the United States secretly seeded clouds over parts of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia to extend the monsoon season and make roads harder to use. Aircraft dispersed silver iodide into clouds in an effort to increase rainfall. The operation became public through congressional investigations and press reports.

Other Cold War programs: The United States, the Soviet Union, and other countries investigated cloud seeding for rainmaking, hail suppression, fog dispersal, and snowpack enhancement. Some military interest focused on obscuring visibility, improving or disrupting transportation, or influencing battlefield conditions. Most results were inconsistent because cloud behavior is difficult to control and experiments are hard to separate from natural weather variation.

International restrictions: In response to concerns about environmental warfare, the United Nations adopted the Environmental Modification Convention (ENMOD) in 1977. It prohibits hostile military or other uses of environmental modification techniques that have widespread, long-lasting, or severe effects. It does not ban peaceful weather-modification research.

Not that i think this is possible, but it looks like someone is stationed on the coast of China on the other side of the Taiwan Strait trying to draw typhoons into Taiwan, but keeps narrowly missing.

I'm sure it's entirely possible, just unlikely and very hard to prove. But there's a long and well-documented history of attempts to change the weather for military purposes.

We had an odd 'out of nowhere' string of heavy rain cells forming near us then dumping rain as they passed over and I wondered the same thing. My tinfoil hat is never too far away!

Not that i think this is possible, but it looks like someone is stationed on the coast of China on the other side of the Taiwan Strait trying to draw typhoons into Taiwan, but keeps narrowly missing.

Your old stomping ground, Pingtung, has had 1250mm in the last 5 days. That's massive rain.
Has to be one of the wettest places for total rainfall in the known universe - proving that yet again.

Today, your other old haunt, Dong He, is in the top 5 with 370mm so far today - which could well hit 500 by midnight.

This appears to be caused by a typhoon that has sprung up just to the south of Pintung/Kaohsiung. Haven't seen too many typhoons form so to close the south coast before - normally it's well to the east.

Then as you say, potentially another double-whammy to impact up north with a very unusual track for Saudel going partially down the Taiwan strait from a northern entrance!

It was being projected to curl around to affect the rarely hit northwest tip of Taiwan, but is now forecast to be north of that.

It almost looks like they're being guided into the same spot - possible weather manipulation warfare?