Cat 4 Typhoon Sepat Roars towards Taiwan.

Typhoon Sepat has maintained its course and is set to strike Taiwan in about 10 hours.

According to the unofficial Joint Typhoon Warning Centre, Sepat is packing sustained winds of 132mph and is forecast to make landfall between the towns of Hualien and Taidong.The storm has already brought severe flooding to parts of the Philippines, with reports of flooding chest deep in the capital Manila.

Typhoon warnings have been issued by Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau.

I am in Hualien and may well be moving south at 3am local time to get closer to the centre of the storm. At the time this was written conditions are deteriorating with very strong winds and heavy rain.

This will be my last update before landfall.

The image below shows the current radar presentation from CWB.gov.tw as the storm is approaching Taiwan:

Category 5 Supertyphoon Sepat Threatens Taiwan.

Typhoon Sepat underwent rapid intensification yesterday and according to the unoffical Joint Typhoon Warning Centre (JTWC) it has now attained category 5 supertyphoon status with sustained winds of 160mph.

According to the Japanese Meteorological Agency (JMA), this morning (Thursday) at 8am Taiwan time, the centre of typhoon Sepat was 416 miles east northeast of Manila. The storm is currently moving north west at 9mph

The Japanese Meteorological Agency and JTWC both forecast a strike on Taiwan on the 18th August as a category 4 storm.

I arrive in Taipei this evening and will be making my way to southern Taiwan tomorrow morning. This storm has intensified further. The last storm that was stronger than Sepat's current intensity was typhoon Angela in 1995.

More updates to come....

The image below is courtesy of NRL Monterry.

Typhoon Pabuk skirts southern Taiwan whilst new storm forms.

Last night typhoon Pabuk skirted southern Taiwan bringing sustained winds of 75mph and heavy rains over the island. The storm has subsequently weakened to a severe tropical storm and is currently on course to pass nearby Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Observatory have hoisted typhoon signal 1.

Meanwhile another tropical storm has formed, Wutip. Currently blowing with winds of 35kts this systems is moving towards Taiwan and could bring considerabley more ferociuos conditions over larger swathes of the country. Here's the latest JMA tracking chart.

Severe Tropical Storm Pabuk Bears Down on Southern Taiwan.

Severe tropical storm Pabuk is bearing down on southern Taiwan and will bring strong winds and heavy rain.

According to the Japanese Meteorological Agency at 8am Taiwan time the centre of severe tropical storm Pabuk was located 510km south east of Taipei with maximum sustained winds of 69 mph.

The Central Weather Bureau of Taiwan have issued a typhoon warning and expect the storm to make landfall just north of the east coast town of Taidong.

The name Pabuk, a type of large fresh water fish, was contributed to the regional list of names by Laos.

Severe Tropical storm Pabuk is the sixth storm of the 2007 Pacific typhoon season. Last week typhoon Usagi struck southern Japan with damaging winds and heavy rain

Tropical storm Pabuk forms - threatening Taiwan.

Tropical storm Pabuk formed yesterday, Sunday, in the Pacific Ocean east of Taiwan. The name Pabuk, a type of large fresh water fish, was contributed to the regional list of names by Laos.

According to the Japanese Meteorological Agency tropical storm Pabuk is currently located 1100km south east of Okinawa with sustained winds of 40 knots or 46mph. The storm is forecast to move west northwest and threaten northern Taiwan as a typhoon in three days.
Tropical storm Pabuk is the sixth storm of the 2007 Pacific typhoon season.

On Thursday typhoon Usagi struck southern Japan with damaging winds and heavy rain.

Below is the current forecast graphic for the track of the storm, issued by JMA:

Typhoon Usagi Intercept Expedition.

Yesterday I return from southern Japan after making a successful intercept of the eye of typhoon Usagi. This was my first intercept expedition in mainland Japan (I went to Okinawa in 2005 to intercept supertyphoon Nabi.)

The trip was a great success not only because I managed to nail the eye of the storm but also I was able to explore the beautiful island of Kyushu and experience the warmth and hospitality of the Japanese people.

I flew to Fukuoka on Wednesday 1st August and caught a bus to the southern coastal city of Kiyazaki. The bus ride was a great opportunity for me to take in the natural beauty of Kyushu with it's lush forests and steep mountain sides. I night stopped in Miyazaki to get some rest and check the updates on the storm's progress.

The night before a typhoon landfall is always sleepless. I was up at 0500 to check the track of Usagi. Indeed it turned out I would have to move about 70km north along the coast ot the town of Nobeoka which was now due a direct hit.

And it was then I was able to do something quite bizarre and what would be utterly impossible in America. I got a commuter train, full of people on their way to work, into the town which was due to get a direct hit from the typhoon.

Usagi was starting to weaken but I got myself into position and filmed what it had to offer:








The day after I ventured to the beach where there was evidence of considerable storm surge:

Overall damage was light in Japan where the infrastructure is built to withstand everything that nature can throw.

Tropical storm Pabuk has just formed and I am now considering travelling to Taiwan to cover this storm.

Typhoon Usagi threatens southern Japan.

The fifth western Pacific tropical storm of the year formed on Saturday and its current forecast track looks set to threaten areas of southern Japan which were struck by typhoon Man-yi earlier this month.

Typhoon Usagi, which means rabbit in Japanese, was located 1030km north of Guam at 0100 BST this morning with sustained winds of 75mph. The storm is forecast to strengthen and maintain a northwest track towards the island of Kyushu.

I am on standby to travel to the region tomorrow in anticipation of the arrival of typhoon Usagi. I will post more updates as the situation develops.