Most Powerful Storm of the Year Holds Onto Title as It Heads for JapanMost Powerful Storm of the Year Holds Onto Title as It Heads for Japan
Mashable





We're using cookies to improve your experience.
Click Here to find out more.






Mashable

Mashable Australia
Mashable UK

Sign in






Like

Follow @mashable








see more  >



Search









Must Reads
Social Media
Tech
Business
Entertainment
World
Watercooler

More


Channels
Must Reads
Social Media
Tech
Business
Entertainment
World
Watercooler
CompanyAbout UsLicensing & ReprintsArchiveMashable Careers
ContactContact UsSubmit News
AdvertiseAdvertise
LegalPrivacy PolicyTerms of UseCookie Policy
AppsiPhone / iPadAndroid
ResourcesSubscriptions
SitesJobsEventsSocial Good SummitMedia Summit












World


Like
Follow
















Most Powerful Storm of the Year Holds Onto Title as It Heads for Japan


4.7k
Shares


Share
Tweet
Share






What's This?











Super Typhoon Vongfong as seen from the VIIRS instrument aboard a NASA satellite.Image:  NASA/NOAA/CIRA/RAMMB via Dan Lindsey
By Andrew Freedman2014-10-08 15:54:35 UTC


After intensifying into one of the most intense tropical cyclones on record, Super Typhoon Vongfong is maintaining its extraordinary Category 5 intensity on Wednesday as it moves westward over the open waters of the West Pacific. The storm is expected to start turning sharply to the north late on Wednesday or Wednesday night, U.S. time, putting the storm on course to make landfall or come very close to storm weary Japan.
As of Wednesday morning, Super Typhoon Vongfong was not quite as intense as it was on Tuesday, when its maximum sustained winds hit a whopping 180 miles per hour. Still, it is a beast, with maximum sustained winds of 165 miles per hour. Some fluctuations in strength are possible on Wednesday, but forecasters at the U.S. military's Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) expect it to remain a super typhoon, with winds of greater than 150 miles per hour, for the next 36 hours. 
While the storm is clearly the strongest since 2013's Super Typhoon Haiyan, which devastated the city of Tacloban in the Philippines, it most likely ranks among the list of top 30 storms of all time, according to a hurricane specialist for the Capital Weather Gang blog.

Awesome comparison of recent powerful #typhoons including #Vongfong which we are tracking now. via: @NOAA pic.twitter.com/NB5FSRvWae
— Bill Karins (@BillKarins) October 8, 2014

After that, cooler ocean waters and stronger winds in the upper atmosphere, which can knock a storm's inner core of tightly wound thunderstorms off balance, should begin to weaken Vongfong as it moves closer to Japan.
Computer models don't quite match up when it comes to the storm's track and intensity, but the current forecast track takes the storm close to or over Japan's Ryukyu Islands, and then northeastward toward the Japanese mainland. This is an especially dangerous scenario, since Japan is still cleaning up from Typhoon Phanfone, which was also a super typhoon at one time. That storm brought up to two feet of rain to parts of the country, and lashed Tokyo with 70 mile per hour winds.
In fact, the predicted path is extremely similar to Typhoon Phanfone, if not slightly more ominous, since the JTWC is projecting the storm to jog a bit to the west before making its northeast turn toward Tokyo. This would put it, as a Category 1 or 2 storm, in position to hit almost all of Japan's major population centers, including Osaka, Kobe, Nagasaki and Tokyo.

Close up of Super Typhoon #Vongfong's eye via @NASANPP VIIRS. Oct. 8, 2014 at 12:13 am EDT. (Image from RAMMB/CIRA) pic.twitter.com/42ziSs0zrN
— NOAA Satellites (@NOAASatellites) October 8, 2014

If the storm does strike Japan, the biggest threat it will pose will come in the form of water. Parts of Japan received up to two feet of rain from Typhoon Phanfone over the weekend, and two other typhoons that have hit this year also dumped copious amounts of rainfall. Given that Japan is a mountainous country, there could be a high danger of mudslides along mountain slopes.

Storm track forecast as of 11:30 a.m. ET, from the JTWC.Image:  JTWCThe Western Pacific has spawned four super typhoons so far this year, each with sustained winds at or greater than 150 miles per hour. The other storms were Super Typhoons Halong, Rammasun, Phanfone and Neoguri. Three of those four — Halong, Neoguri and Phanfone — went on to strike Japan, albeit in weaker form.
The storm activity in the Pacific, both the western and eastern parts of the ocean, contrasts sharply with the Atlantic Ocean, which has been in a state of hibernation for much of this hurricane season.
Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.



Topics:
Climate, hurricane, japan, super typhoon, typhoon, US & World, vongfong, World













Load Comments

Powered by Livefyre








What's Hot





More in World





What's New


What's Rising


What's Hot





What's New
What's Rising
What's Hot
















About UsJobsAdvertiseSubscribePrivacyTerms









Mashable

is a leading source for news, information and resources for the Connected Generation. Mashable reports on the importance of digital innovation and how it empowers and inspires people around the world. Mashable's record 40 million unique visitors worldwide and 20 million social media followers are one of the most influential and engaged online communities. Founded in 2005, Mashable is headquartered in New York City with an office in San Francisco.



©2005-2015
Mashable, Inc.


Reproduction without explicit permission is prohibited. All Rights Reserved.


Designed in collaboration with Code & Theory








