Earth’s Strongest Cyclone of 2015 Super, Typhoon Soudelor threatens large parts Asia, after typhoon Soudelor wreaks havoc in Saipan Islands, sparing Philippines and moving toward Taiwan, China and Ryukyu Island’s in Japan.
- Super Typhoon Soudelor passed directly over Saipan on August 2 as a Category 2 equivalent storm.
The storm is forecast to continue to weaken before making landfall, but is still expected to be a large and powerful typhoon — likely equivalent to a Category 3 or Category 4 hurricane — when it hits Taiwan.
Super Typhoon Soudelor spares Philippine, locally known as Typhoon Hanna, is currently a tropical cyclone in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, which recently wrecks the Northern Mariana Islands.
“The thirteenth named storm of the annual typhoon season developed as a tropical depression just west of the International Dateline on July 29.”
According to the latest updates on Wiki, Typhoon Soudelor passed directly over Saipan on August 2 as a Category 2 equivalent storm, causing widespread damage on the island. The National Weather Service’s anemometer at Saipan International Airport broke after recording a gust of 146 km/h (91 mph). The winds downed numerous trees and power lines, leaving much of the island without power and rendering roads impassible. In some areas, cars were flipped over by the force of the wind.
Super Typhoon Soudelor sparing Philippines, as of 4 p.m. yesterday, the eye of the typhoon was located at 1,720 kilometers east of Luzon with maximum sustained winds of 215 kilometers per hour. It was forecast to move west northwest at 20 kph.
PHILIPPINES -The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said that as of 10 a.m., Typhoon Soudelor was located based on all available data at 1,855 kilometers east of Luzon and was moving west northwest at 20 kilometers per hour (kph). The typhoon’s maximum sustained winds has increased to 215 kph from 210 kph.
The Super Typhoon Soudelor is expected to leave Philippines Thursday morning, the typhoon will be at 850 kilometers east of Itbayat, Batanes and by Friday morning, it is expected to be at 400 kilometers east northeast of the town still in the country’s territorial limits at Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR). It will be at 520 kilometers north of Itbayat, or already outside the PAR by Saturday morning.
JAPAN —Japan Meteorological Agency estimated Soudelor’s central pressure at 8 a.m. EDT Tuesday was 900 millibars, making Soudelor the strongest tropical cyclone on Earth so far in 2015. That central pressure has come up quite a bit, reflecting Soudelor’s weakening, to an estimated 930 millibars.
For now, the main island of Okinawa (including Kadena Air Base) lies to the north of the forecast swath, but it remains too soon to rule out a more northward trend. If the track trends closer to Okinawa, the nearest pass would occur Thursday night or Friday morning, according to Weather.com report.
CHINA —It is expected to make landfall in Fujian and neighboring Zhejiang Province late on Saturday. In southeast China, the provinces of Fujian, Zhejiang and Guangdong are most at risk of a typhoon landfall this weekend. These provinces have a combined population of 200 million. Soudelor’s circulation is then expected to curl northward, potentially bringing heavy rain to Jiangxi, Anhui and Hubei provinces.
Soudelor will continue a west-northwest track the next couple of days over open waters of the western Pacific Ocean and is expected to strengthen again before hitting Taiwan later this week. Image courtesy of CNN
