Report on Typhoon Matmo (2521)

Typhoon Matmo (2521)
1 to 7 October 2025

Matmo was the twelfth tropical cyclone affecting Hong Kong in 2025.

Matmo formed as a tropical depression over the western North Pacific about 1 110 km east of Manila on the morning of 1 October, and moved west-northwestwards approaching Luzon. It moved across Luzon on 3 October, and entered the central part of the South China Sea that night. It then continued to move steadily west-northwestwards across the northern part of the South China Sea towards Leizhou Peninsula. Matmo intensified into a typhoon on the night of 4 October, and attained its peak intensity with an estimated maximum sustained wind of 145 km/h near its centre over the seas east of Hainan Island in the small hours of the next day. It made landfall successively over Zhanjiang of Guangdong and Fangchenggang of Guangxi, from the afternoon of 5 October to the small hours of the next day, then moved inland and weakened rapidly. Matmo finally degenerated into an area of low pressure in the northern part of Vietnam in the small hours of 7 October.

According to press reports, during the passage of Matmo over the Philippines, over 340 000 people were affected and more than 80 houses were damaged. Economic loss exceeded PHP 100 million. Matmo and its remnant brought torrential rain and squalls to Hainan, Guangdong, Guangxi and Yunnan. More than 3.5 million people were affected and more than 280 000 people were evacuated. Over 11 000 houses were damaged, more than 110 000 hectares of crops were damaged, and economic loss exceeded RMB 15 billion. Accumulated rainfall in Zhanjiang of Guangdong and Fangchenggang of Guangxi reached 454 millimetres. Matmo also brought squalls to Macau, causing one injury and 16 incident reports. Matmo and its remnant brought torrential rain to the northern part of Vietnam, causing widespread flooding. Accumulated rainfall in Thai Nguyen reached 350 millimetres. In Vietnam, there were 18 deaths or missing, and 15 injuries. More than 230 000 houses were damaged, more than 30 000 hectares of crops were damaged, and economic loss exceeded VND 19.5 trillion.

The Standby Signal No. 1 was issued at 7:40 p.m. on 3 October when Matmo was about 770 km southeast of Hong Kong. Local winds were moderate northeasterlies the next morning. With the approach of Matmo, local winds strengthened gradually. The No. 3 Strong Wind Signal was issued at 12:20 p.m. on 4 October when Matmo was about 480 km south-southeast of Hong Kong. Strong easterlies generally affected Hong Kong from that afternoon to the next morning. Winds occasionally reached gale force offshore and even reached storm-force on high ground. Matmo came closest to Hong Kong at around 2 a.m. on 5 October, skirting past about 340 km south-southwest of the territory. With Matmo departing from Hong Kong, local winds weakened gradually. The No. 1 Standby Signal was issued at 3:40 p.m. on 5 October and all tropical cyclone warning signals were cancelled at 10:20 p.m. on 5 October.

Matmo did not cause any significant damage in Hong Kong during its passage. Under the influence of Matmo, a maximum sea level of 2.97 m (above chart datum) was recorded at Tsim Bei Tsui and a maximum storm surge of 0.68 m (above astronomical tide) was recorded at Shek Pik. At the Observatory Headquarters, the lowest instantaneous mean sea-level pressure of 1008.1 hPa was recorded at 4:09 a.m. on 5 October.

The weather in Hong Kong was mainly fine at first and very hot on 4 October. With the approach of Matmo, the local weather turned cloudy with a few squally showers and violent gusts. There were also thunderstorms on that day. More than 10 millimetres of rainfall were recorded over many places, and rainfall even exceeded 40 millimetres over parts of Lantau Island on 5 October.