An enormous storm in the Western Pacific rapidly strengthened overnight into the year's most powerful super typhoon.
Super Typhoon
Vongfong reached sustained winds of 155 mph (250 km/h) this morning
(Oct. 7), with gusts of up to 190 mph (306 km/h), according to the U.S
Navy's Joint Typhoon Warning Center in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.Satellite estimates from the Japan Meteorological Agency suggest the massive storm's central pressure dropped to 905 millibars, making it the most intense storm of any kind this year, according to The Washington Post's Capital Weather Gang blog. (The average sea level pressure is 1,013 millibars. Typically, storms with a big pressure gradient, or difference in pressure, have stronger winds.) [Super Storms: 8 Terrible Typhoons]
Vongfong
is the fifth super typhoon to threaten the Pacific this year. There
were also five super typhoons in 2012 and five in 2013, including the
deadly Super Typhoon Haiyan, which was one of the strongest tropical
cyclones ever recorded. Late July through October is peak typhoon season
in the Western Pacific.
Super
Typhoon Vongfong is currently a Category 4 tropical cyclone but could
grow into an even more powerful Category 5 storm by Wednesday as it
lumbers over warm water, which will fuel its powerful spin. In the
Western Pacific, tropical storms become super typhoons when their winds top 150 mph (241 km/h). Super typhoons are equivalent to Category 4 or 5 hurricanes.
Vongfong
is expected to sharply turn and head north by Thursday, weakening
before it nears Japan, according to current forecasts. The storm is
following a similar track to Typhoon Phanfone, which lashed central and
eastern Japan with fierce winds and torrential rain last week. VIDEO
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