Super Typhoon Haiyan -- Hellish, Nasty, Brutish

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Haiyan is the strongest tropical cyclone to make landfall this year. It's possible that it may be the strongest recorded tropical cyclone to make landfall since we've had the data and means to track these. This storm has had a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=678840645468606&set=a.162797377072938.40833.117016061651070&type=1" target="_blank">perfect symmetry and meteorological awesomeness</a> that is hard to describe.  In the ocean, impacts are different.  When these beasts zip over a landmass, the destruction and impact on life and property is tremendous.<br /><br /><a href="http://classic.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=2573" target="_blank">Haiyan is estimated to have winds as strong as 195 miles per hour</a> when it washed ashore last night in the Philippines. To put that in perspective -- the strongest winds out of an Atlantic hurricane at landfall are currently estimated to have come from Hurricane Camille (190 mph) in 1969.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglpN3tA-6MIy5mrp-gL6xq2qpM84j7v9RIlDzmc-IhJwXMkCCtlQOXRy8hNm5dZmzfc9DctMNyV5OTugqTAmEuXlUYP9T5J7tezyRn0BlFYfnTQ9JknwvuvrIxF7lW64m5UGV4u_NwgG_7/s1600/110813-HAIYAN.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglpN3tA-6MIy5mrp-gL6xq2qpM84j7v9RIlDzmc-IhJwXMkCCtlQOXRy8hNm5dZmzfc9DctMNyV5OTugqTAmEuXlUYP9T5J7tezyRn0BlFYfnTQ9JknwvuvrIxF7lW64m5UGV4u_NwgG_7/s400/110813-HAIYAN.jpg" width="390" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Picture of Haiyan at landfall last night. CIMSS.</td></tr></tbody></table>As of this morning, <a href="http://rt.com/news/record-typhoon-haiyan-philippines-403/" target="_blank">the death toll was reported at three</a>. That will go a lot higher, given that storm surge was in the ballpark of fifteen feet, with the town of Guiuan likely ground zero for the worst of worst from this storm as the eye came ashore very close to them. Tacloban, a city to the west and northwest of Guiuan in the Philippine island of Leyte, suffered pretty heavy damage from the storm as well. There are a few <a href="http://instagram.com/macmaloon" target="_blank">Instagram videos out there</a> showing what Haiyan was doing to that town earlier today. <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/08/us-philippines-typhoon-idUSBRE9A603Q20131108" target="_blank">Communications are down in many of these areas</a>, which means that the final death toll and impact from this storm may not be known for a number of days.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht_CqlUGmFMGXrokZWm78riv8h7n0EKcd53040lFCjxNJJqr5iK-8JOcmdpzOCrkhf7cgDOOi9jl10hsyheNoFnbp9PdR52RHhjlfHDTYOfCcWZNJzp3OpTp_cwzoU_Zsx3ltPyeDqJnea/s1600/110813-HAIYAN2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht_CqlUGmFMGXrokZWm78riv8h7n0EKcd53040lFCjxNJJqr5iK-8JOcmdpzOCrkhf7cgDOOi9jl10hsyheNoFnbp9PdR52RHhjlfHDTYOfCcWZNJzp3OpTp_cwzoU_Zsx3ltPyeDqJnea/s400/110813-HAIYAN2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Haiyan is now working out into the South China Sea, weakened some from its peak yesterday due to land interaction with the Philippines. It still is a pretty strong storm and will remain that way until final landfall in Vietnam in a couple of days.<br /><br />More: <a href="http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/goes/blog/archives/14311" target="_blank">CIMSS blog on some of the satellite imagery of Haiyan</a> as it approached the Philippines yesterday.<br /><br /><br />

Haiyan Philippines Super Typhoon Haiyan -- Hellish, Nasty, Brutish

Haiyan is the strongest tropical cyclone to make landfall this year. It's possible that it may be the strongest recorded tropical cyclon...

Read more »

Another Typhoon About To Pound Pacific Islands

The Western Pacific has been awfully active the past several weeks with several strong typhoons. The latest, and strongest of the series, is Haiyan. Haiyan is a Super Typhoon (classification given to storms with maximum winds of over 150 mph) that has winds of 170 mph according to satellite estimates. That would make Haiyan the strongest storm of the year worldwide.<br /><br />And it's heading for the Philippines over the next 24-36 hours.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTzTB2QBHH8ri0UchAQqQg8eK3FvSamQSJ6IRhfc9Z3mVhKKo_WYkHbusHGbTnokzVBLPpUrJfMtAlal4REqI9JeZRKRWsmJXFovnIKUB7lGw9OloEhEEuCJzE-vXV6XT7n0LNAVv68zCF/s1600/110713-HAI.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTzTB2QBHH8ri0UchAQqQg8eK3FvSamQSJ6IRhfc9Z3mVhKKo_WYkHbusHGbTnokzVBLPpUrJfMtAlal4REqI9JeZRKRWsmJXFovnIKUB7lGw9OloEhEEuCJzE-vXV6XT7n0LNAVv68zCF/s400/110713-HAI.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Haiyan will pass to the south of Luzon, the Philippines' most populated island. However, it will still produce tremendous damage and impact for several dozen islands in the chain.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKle0JI4dWCFqrI4CSw6cR3kTqk9Yg_ydoolW4V1fmiAe7W5FFP-nHsXbhSLBA1Q-EtF7gkT_1r0RZAH7YjCkRVkUjrXUnD54anqY02RXvhtgdlvEn5PrF-As-JqqB0yj957wDwIXTRJq0/s1600/110713-HAI2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKle0JI4dWCFqrI4CSw6cR3kTqk9Yg_ydoolW4V1fmiAe7W5FFP-nHsXbhSLBA1Q-EtF7gkT_1r0RZAH7YjCkRVkUjrXUnD54anqY02RXvhtgdlvEn5PrF-As-JqqB0yj957wDwIXTRJq0/s400/110713-HAI2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Haiyan is one of the strongest storms to develop at such a southerly latitude -- only two other storms have achieved Saffir Category 5 status at lower latitudes than this storm. One of them, Bopha, <a href="http://philadelphiaweather.blogspot.com/2012/12/typhoon-death-toll-rises.html" target="_blank">impacted Mindanao</a> in December 2012.  Loss of life and property damage are pretty much certain in its path over the next couple of days and this will likely be the big weather story globally.<br /><br />This is the fifth storm to impact the Philippines this year, four of those storms of typhoon designation. <a href="http://classic.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=2571" target="_blank">See Dr. Jeff Masters' post at Wunderground</a> for some more information.<br /><br />Typhoons in the Western Pacific can occur nearly any time during the year as these ocean waters are among the warmest and have the highest tropical heat content on earth. Given the atmospheric environment around the typhoon is incredibly favorable, the storm will likely remain strong through its Philippine trek, weakening some due to land interaction. It should remain a typhoon for the next several days.

Haiyan Philippines typhoons Another Typhoon About To Pound Pacific Islands

The Western Pacific has been awfully active the past several weeks with several strong typhoons. The latest, and strongest of the series, is...

Read more »