SUPER TYPHOON HAIYAN Could Be One Of The STRONGEST Storms In WORLD HISTORY

[Segami]

From Climate Central's Andrew Freedman:

Super Typhoon Haiyan — which is one of the strongest storms in world history based on maximum windspeed — is about to plow through the Central Philippines, producing a potentially deadly storm surge and dumping heavy rainfall that could cause widespread flooding. The densely populated city of Manila, home to 12 million, is in the storm’s path, although it is predicted to escape the worst of the winds and storm surge. As of Thursday afternoon Eastern time, Haiyan, known in the Philippines as Super Typhoon Yolanda, had estimated maximum sustained winds of 195 mph with gusts above 220 mph, which puts the storm in extraordinarily rare territory. Since 1969, only three storms have had sustained winds close to this magnitude — Hurricane Camille in 1969, Super Typhoon Tip in 1979, and Hurricane Allen in 1980. No storm in the Atlantic has ever been stronger than Haiyan, accoring to The Weather Channel.



Haiyan is capable of causing catastrophic damage in the central Philippines and its outer bands are already starting to affect the island nation.The U.S. Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center forecasts that Haiyan will cross the Central Philippines as a Category 4 or 5 Super Typhoon, and then re-emerge over open water, before making landfall in Vietnam as a Category 3 typhoon on November 10. Ryan Maue, a meteorologist at WeatherBELL Analytics, said that Haiyan appears to be the strongest storm since Super Typhoon Tip in 1979. Maue said the storm has avoided the typical hiccups that other intense storms encounter, such as eyewall replacement cycles, during which a storm's inner core undergoes a reorganization. Such cycles can cause a Category 5 storm to weaken to a Category 3 or 4 storm, before re-strengthening. Instead of doing this, though, Haiyan has remained at peak strength for more than 24 hours, which is unusual, and even strengthened on Monday morning.



After hitting the Leyte province, the Philippines’ Department of Science and Technology expects the storm to traverse the central Philippines from Biliran to Busuanga before passing into the West Philippine Sea. The Department is warning coastal residents to expect storm surges “which may reach up to 7-meter (23 feet) wave height,” along with flooding and mudslides. The storm poses an especially grave danger to the capital of Leyte, the city of Tacloban, which has about 220,000 people and lies along or just to the north of the storm's path where the most intense winds and storm surge will come ashore.


http://www.climatecentral.org/news/dangerous-super-typhoon-haiyan-assaults-philippines-16712


cont'

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/07/super-typhoon-haiyan-philippines_n_4235250.html

[hrmjustin]

1. They are in my thoughts and prayers.

[Agschmid]

2. +1

[LiberalEsto]

4. yes

[TheCowsCameHome]

3. That. Is. Ugly.

Man, what a horrible storm.

[Segami]

5. "...For the past 24 hours, the storm has remained at a strength close to the theoretical upper limit

....that cyclones can reach. Unlike in the tropical North Atlantic, there is no aircraft reconnaissance of tropical storms and typhoons in the Western Pacific, so the actual wind speeds and minimum central air pressure — two key parameters used to classify such storms — are being estimated using satellites...."

[Blue Owl]

6. Whoa.

Hunker down, Phillipinos and stay safe...

[Paper Roses]

7. THis storm looks evil. I just heard:

Wind gusts over 200 MPH.

[Brother Buzz]

9. Sustained winds exceeding 180 MPH!

[panader0]

8. Damn! Hang on brothers and sisters.

[nadinbrzezinski]

10. Hollee shit!

[Bigmack]

11. From those who have nearly NOTHING, EVERYTHING

will be taken…… Those poor folks. This is why old Mom Nature is called the Bitch Goddess at our house, and yes, I know - we so-called homo sapiens brought these things on ourselves, but the poor folks in the Philippines are hardly the biggest green house gas producers. Ms Bigmack

[Lucky Luciano]

12. I am hoping for the best here.

This is brutal. Without proper evacuation protocols, this can kill way over 100,000 people.

[hankthecrank]

13. Yes please hang on

[kydo]

14. That thing is scary!

[ProdigalJunkMail]

15. if you pray... now is the time...

and when you're done, if you can, open your pockets and send money...

sP

[Neurotica]

16. Live reports from 2 weather reporters/storm chasers

The WaPo Capital Weather Gang provided links to two people who are there right now. Incredibly scary. Neither one has updated their twitter feed in the past several hours. Maybe their knowledge has helped to protect some people. Hoping for the best for everyone in the affected areas.

https://twitter.com/ExtremeStorms

https://twitter.com/typhoonfury

[ellie]

17. Jesus

Look at that. I am praying for their safety.

[Art_from_Ark]

18. There have been some powerful Pacific storms this year

Just 2 weeks and 2 typhoons ago, Typhoon #28 had winds of up to 193　mph and was headed toward Japan until it was deflected by an earlier typhoon (#27). However, #28 never made landfall on the mainland so it never really made the news. This new one, #30/Yolanda/Haiyan, looks like a real mean storm. I hope the best for everyone concerned.

[Douglas Carpenter]

19. I just now finished calling my friend and partner who lives in Central Luzon - which at least is not

in the main path of this typhoon. But it this typhoon ends up being a strong as some suspect - I doubt there will be many parts of the Philippines that will escape serious damage.

[cali]

21. frightening. I hope your friend makes it through.

It has hit with those 195 mph winds.

<snip>

The storm brought tremendously powerful winds roaring ashore as it made landfall in the province of Eastern Visayas, disrupting communications with a major city in its path.

With sustained winds of 315 kph (195 mph) and gusts as strong as 380 kph (235 mph), Haiyan was probably the strongest tropical cyclone to hit land anywhere in the world in recorded history. It will take further analysis after the storm passes to establish whether it is a record.

Video footage from on the ground in the Philippines showed howling winds bending palm trees and whipping debris down deserted streets.

Gov. Roger Mercado of Southern Leyte, a province in Eastern Visayas, said Friday morning that "all roads" were impassable because of fallen trees.

<snip>

The typhoon was forecast to churn across the central Philippines during Friday and part of Saturday before exiting into the South China Sea.

<snip>

http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/07/world/asia/philippines-typhoon-haiyan/index.html

May those in its path, survive.

[toddwv]

20. This same area was rocked by earthquakes last month.

Over 200 people killed...

[Douglas Carpenter]

22. here is a map that tracks direct path of SUPER TYPHOON HAIYAN

http://www.hko.gov.hk/wxinfo/currwx/tc_gis_e.htm

[ananda]

23. It's being reported AS the strongest..

.. even stronger than Camille.