Typhoon Matmo weakens to tropical depression after hitting China's Guangxi, rain forecast for Vietnam

Matmo made landfall in China's Guangxi Province early Monday with winds of 61–74 kph. After crossing China's Leizhou Peninsula and reaching the Guangxi coast at dawn, the storm rapidly lost strength due to terrain friction and the loss of ocean energy.

According to Vietnam's National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, at 7 a.m. the tropical depression was located over southern Guangxi with maximum sustained winds of 61 kph, moving west at 20–25 kph. It is expected to track toward Vietnam's northern mountains and weaken further into a low-pressure area on Monday.

The trajectory of Typhoon Matmo. Graphics by Vietnam Disasters Monitoring System

The northern Gulf of Tonkin (including Bach Long Vi Island) saw strong winds of 39–49 kph and waves of 2–3 meters on Monday morning. Over land, Quang Ninh and Lang Son provinces recorded gusts up to 39–49 kph.

Vietnam's northern mountainous and midland regions are expected to receive 100–200 mm of rain, with some areas topping 300 mm, from Monday morning until Tuesday night. Downpours at certain places could exceed 150 mm in three hours.

In Hanoi, from Monday morning through Tuesday, rainfall is forecast at 50–100 mm, locally over 150 mm, with possible thunderstorms, whirlwinds, and strong gusts.

Matmo formed from a tropical depression over the eastern Philippines on Sept. 2. A day later, it crossed Luzon and entered the East Sea, becoming the 11th storm in the basin in 2025. By Sunday morning, it strengthened to 134-149 kph while laying about 70 km east-northeast of Hainan Island (China) and roughly 420 km from Quang Ninh Province, home to Ha Long Bay.

Previously, ten storms and four tropical depressions had developed in the East Sea. The most recent, Typhoon Bualoi, struck central Vietnam early Sept. 29 with winds of 103–117 kph, bringing heavy rain and tornadoes from Hue to northern Vietnam. Bualoi left 67 people dead or missing and caused more than VND18.8 trillion (US$740 million) in damage.

In Hanoi alone, rainfall reached 120–600 mm in 24 hours, creating 116 flooded locations with depths of 0.3–0.5 m, and in some areas 1–1.5 m. The flooding disrupted daily life, paralyzed traffic, and forced many schools to close. As of Sunday, more than 2,000 households in low-lying areas of the capital city remained inundated.