Super typhoon ‘DOKSURI’ has formed in the Northwest Pacific Ocean. It is category IV equivalent hurricane with a potential of inflicting catastrophic damage. The typhoon is centered around 17.7°N and 124.6°E, about 200km east abeam extreme northern parts of Philippines. The storm is packed with wind speed of 240kmh and is moving northwest with a speed of about 20kmh. It is likely to retain its strength of super typhoon for another 48hours.
The super typhoon is defined by a clear circular and symmetric eye of about 50km diameter. The storm has cloud dense overcast (CDO) clusters wrapped around the eye and prominent outflow to the northeast sector. The super typhoon will narrowly miss extreme northern parts of Philippines but still impacting heavy weather for the next 24hours. The storm will track over the ocean and pass by Taiwan on 26th July in the late hours, keeping it to the right, but with in the strike range of strong weather activity, gale speed winds and torrential rains. The super typhoon will head for southeast coast of China but mercifully weaken to Cat-III equivalent hurricane over the sea itself. Doksuri will make landfall near Xiamen (China) on 27thJuly late in the day or 28th morning.
Weakening of the storm is on 2 counts: land interaction with the northern tip of Luzon (Philippines) and southwestern parts of Taiwan. Diminishing outflow will weaken the storm further before the landfall. After crossing the coast, interaction with the rugged terrain and increased vertical wind shear will rapidly erode the storm. As the typhoon tracks deeper in the interior parts of China, quick dissipation is on the cards.