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A Category 5 typhoon is spinning towards the Philippines. Typhoon Yolanda would be the 4th super typhoon to strike the Philippines this year, and it's also the most dangerous.
We need to connect the dots. The climate crisis is happening now.
---Paul Beckwith
Super
typhoon Haiyan hits Category 5, an extremely serious threat to
Philippines
6
November, 2013
The
western Pacific storm Haiyan has intensified without interruption
since Sunday and is now a dangerous Category 5 super typhoon, with
maximum sustained winds exceeding 160 mph. It is on a path due
west, and landfall Friday in the central Philippines is inevitable.
Haiyan
– known as Yolanda in the Philippines – is likely the strongest
storm to form on the planet this year.
“Based
on satellite imagery, [Haiyan's] the strongest storm I’ve seen
since Bopha (2012),” says Ryan Maue, a meteorologist with
WeatherBell Analytics.
Super
typhoon Bopha,
whose peak winds reached 175 mph, caused hundreds of fatalities on
the southern Philippine island of Mindanao in December 2012.
Maue
says it’s possible Haiyan’s maximum sustained winds have reached
180 mph.
Officially,
the Joint
Typhoon Warning Center
forecasts additional strengthening over the next day, but with the
storm near its theoretical maximum strength – it’s more likely it
has leveled off. As it continues westward over the Philippine Sea,
its inner core may re-organize through what’s known as an eyewall
replacement cycle,
which would briefly weaken the storm. But water temperatures are very
warm along Haiyan’s path, so significant weakening is unlikely.
At
landfall – predicted to occur around 0-6 UTC Friday (Friday morning
local time in Manila) – the storm is forecast to have maximum
sustained winds around 155 mph – equivalent to a high-end category
4 hurricane.
Forecast
track for Haiyan (National Weather Service)
The
storm is currently in the vicinity of Yap and Palau, where a 72 mph
wind gust was recently recorded.
Winds
are gusting to 72 mph at the National Weather Service office in Palau
due to Super #Typhoon
#Haiyan.
Forecast:
http://
wxch.nl/1bbBpe6
6:09 AM - 7 Nov 2013
http://
wxch.nl/1bbBpe6
6:09 AM - 7 Nov 2013
Here
we go again. A strong typhoon is forecast to pose a serious threat to
parts of the Philippines late this week.
As
we noted
Tuesday,
Haiyan is likely to impact the vulnerable central Philippines reeling
from an earthquake that killed more than 150 people in mid-October
and a tropical depression that dumped heavy rain earlier this week.
“Rain
totals along the path of Haiyan could top 200 mm (8 inches),”
writes
AccuWeather.
“Mudslides are a serious concern in the higher terrain, where
localized totals of 250 to 300 mm (10 to 12 inches) are not out of
the question.”
Haiyan
is likely to push a devastating storm surge inland – at least 2 or
3 meters (around 10 feet) – just north of the center – along the
eastern coast of southern Luzon and Samar islands.
Coastal
and inland areas also face the likelihood of destructive winds, over
100 mph near the storm center.
“The
worst of the storm will bypass the capital city of Manila, but
damaging winds of 80 to 120 kph (50 to 75 mph) and rainfall of 100 to
200 mm (4 to 8 inches) are still expected,” notes
AccuWeather.
The
Wall
Street Journal reports
government agencies in the Philippines have been ordered to prepare
emergency supplies and equipment ahead of the storm and will consider
the need for evacuation procedures.
Haiyan
is the 11th typhoon to form in the west Pacific in the last seven
weeks, during what the UK
Met Office calls
an “exceptionally active period.”
It
is the 5th super typhoon to form this year in the western Pacific.
2013
super typhoons (Brian McNoldy)
Wunderground
meteorologist Jeff Masters notes Haiyan will be the fourth typhoon
and fifth named storm to hit the Philippines in 2013.
“The
Philippines lie in the most tropical cyclone-prone waters on Earth,
and rarely escape a year without experiencing a devastating typhoon,”
Masters
writes
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