Having only given the Philippines a glancing blow of rain, Super Typhoon Songda strengthened into a Category 5 tropical cyclone. The powerful storm is forecast to now harass Taiwan and then set its sights on Okinawa, Japan.
The Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) said that Songda was now packing winds of over 161mph. Known as Chedeng in the Philippines, the storm was 275 miles east-northeast of Manila and moving to the northwest at 9mph.
While staying well offshore of the Philippines, Songda dumped more than 4 inches of rain on the northeastern coast of Luzon. Anticipating flooding and mudslides the government had ordered the evacuation of 50,000 people from the Albay province.
As the path of the storm became clearer, The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Service Administration (PAGASA) dropped some of the warnings it had issued previously.
The current forecast calls for the storm to gradually make a turn toward the north where the ‘cone of uncertainty’ puts it within striking distance of Taiwan. The Central Weather Bureau has issued a Typhoon Warning and is closely monitoring the storm.
Within the next 36 hours the storm is forecast to turn toward the northeast and toward the Japanese island of Okinawa. If the forecast holds true, the eye of the storm would hit the island at 1200UTC on Saturday.
The somewhat good news is that the storm is expected to weaken as it makes it moves into cooler waters to the north. The JTWC estimates wind speeds of 110mph when it reaches Okinawa, a high Category 2 storm.
For Japan the biggest concern is the possibility that the storm cause problems on the main island of Honshu. Recovery efforts are still struggling following the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami and wind and rain would certainly hamper progress.
For all the latest on all types of natural disasters, click the 'Subscribe' button at the top to receive an email whenever a new story is posted. You can also follow us on Twitter or on Google Buzz and 'like' us on Facebook to stay up to date.
Comments