Storm Matmo to enter East Sea Oct 3

By Gia Chinh October 2, 2025 | 06:26 pm PT

After making landfall on Luzon at midday with winds of 75–88 kph, Storm Matmo is expected to move into the East Sea (South China Sea) on Friday and intensify to 103–117 kph before approaching the Gulf of Tonkin next Monday.

The National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting (NCHMF) said the storm was over waters east of Luzon with maximum winds of 88 kph early on Friday morning, moving west-northwest at 25 kph. It will cross Luzon and enter the East Sea in the coming hours, becoming the 11th storm to affect Vietnam this year.

By 1 a.m. Saturday, Matmo is expected to be over northeastern East Sea with sustained winds of 89–102 kph, continuing moving west-northwest. By 1 a.m. Sunday, it should be over the western part of the northern East Sea, about 340 km east-southeast of China's Leizhou Peninsula, with sustained winds of 118–133 kph. By 1 a.m. Monday, the storm is forecast to be in the Gulf of Tonkin with sustained winds of 103–117 kph, moving west-northwest at 20–25 kph.

The predicted trajectory of Storm Matmo. Graphics by Vietnam Disasters Monitoring System

The predicted trajectory of Storm Matmo towards southern China and northern Vietnam. Graphics by Vietnam Disasters Monitoring System

Regional outlooks vary slightly. Japan Meteorological Agency expects Matmo to enter the East Sea with 72 kph winds, then track obliquely toward Hainan, peaking near 126 kph before easing to around 108 kph in the Gulf of Tonkin. The Hong Kong Observatory projects a peak near 155 kph before the system skirts the Leizhou Peninsula and heads toward the Vietnam–China border.

So far this year, the East Sea has seen 10 storms and four tropical depressions. The most recent, Typhoon Bualoi, formed on Sept. 24 in the Philippines, entered the East Sea at an unusually fast forward speed, and made landfall in central Vietnam on Sept. 29 with winds of 103–117 kph before weakening over Laos later that day.

The typhoon has left 36 dead, 21 missing and 147 injured in Vietnam, causing widespread destruction and more than VND11.4 trillion (US$450 million) in damages as of Thursday.