Typhoon Saola, known in the Philippines as Super Typhoon Goring, was a powerful and erratic tropical cyclone that affected the Philippines, southern Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau and South China. The name Saola, is in reference to a rare animal found in Vietnam. 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 begin in a process of rapid intensification while making a looping trend. Although it did not make a direct landfall over Luzon, Saola made the closer 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 went again in an explosive intensification, regenerated back as a Category 4 as it passes over Batanes and left PAR on August 31 still as a super typhoon.
Prior to the approach of Saola, HKO raised the highest signal category in anticipation of the storm, the first time in 5 years since Mangkhut of 2018. The storm continued to approach closely over Hong Kong and Macau, battering with strong gusty winds and heavy rains over the area before weakening and making landfall over Southern China.
Meteorological history
On August 20, an area of convection east of Taiwan began moving southwestwards with little organization over its center. The PAGASA marked the system as a low-pressure area on August 22, and the Japan Meteorological Agency upgraded it to a tropical depression. The PAGASA initially expected the system to not develop into a tropical cyclone, but later upgraded it into a tropical depression the next day, and was given the local name of Goring, it was also given a Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert by the JTWC, designated as Tropical Depression 09W. Goring then moved generally north-northwestwards across the Philippine Sea. On August 24, Goring was upgraded to a tropical storm by the JTWC, with the JMA following suit a few hours later at 06:00 UTC, receiving the name Saola. PAGASA also followed suit in upgrading the system into a tropical storm in their 17:00 PHT (09:00 UTC) update. Saola continued to intensify and began to move southwestwards over the Philippine Sea east of the Batanes Islands. PAGASA then started to issue Tropical Cyclone Wind Signals across the eastern parts of Northern Luzon on Friday morning. A few hours later, the JTWC upgraded Saola into a typhoon, with the JMA upgrading the system to a severe tropical storm shortly thereafter. Saola was then later upgraded into a typhoon moments later by the JMA, with JTWC upgrading it to a Category 2, beginning a process of rapid intensification. PAGASA followed suit by the evening and upgraded Saola into a typhoon as well. Saola was then upgraded to a Category 4 typhoon by the morning of August 27.
In the early morning hours of Sunday, PAGASA then upgraded Goring (Saola) into a super typhoon after its winds passed 185 km/h (115 mph), becoming the third storm to enter in their 'super typhoon' category this year. Saola then executed a south-southeastward turn over the Philippine Sea. Saola then weakened back into a typhoon per PAGASA, with Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal #2 and #3 being lifted as it moved away from Central Luzon. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center also downgraded Saola back into a Category 2 typhoon. Saola then weakened due to an eyewall replacement cycle, and PAGASA dropped some tropical cyclone wind signals in Eastern Luzon. It then turned northwest, and PAGASA reissued Signal 4 for parts of the Babuyan Islands and then explosively intensified into a Category 4 super typhoon, per the Joint Typhoon Warning Center. PAGASA then followed suit and upgraded Saola (Goring) into a super typhoon once more as it was passing between the Bashi Channel, and issued Signal #5 in the northeastern portion of the Babuyan Islands, the second time this year since Typhoon Doksuri a month earlier. Later that day, Saola crossed the northwestern boundaries of the Philippine Area of Responsibility, and PAGASA issued their final tropical cyclone advisories on it, with storm signals being dropped moments later. Saola remained a powerful super typhoon as it crossed into the South China Sea southwest of Taiwan, featuring a clear and warm eye as it did so. On the afternoon of August 31 (UTC), the JTWC noted that Saola was struggling to complete an eyewall replacement cycle, resulting in some slight weakening.
