Super Typhoon Neoguri is presently positioned at 31⁰N Latitude and 126.5⁰E Longitude in the open sea. It is about 450 km south west of Sasebo, the southernmost area of mainland Japan. The system has weakened now, indicated by the absence of an eye, to Category 2, bearing wind speed in the order of 150 kmph, gusting to about 200 kmph. It is likely to weaken further.
According to latest developments, Super Typhoon Neoguri could make landfall by late Wednesday night or early next morning across Kyushu, the southernmost island of the Japanese mainland, as a minimal Typhoon or possibly a strong tropical storm.
After landfall the system will have tendency to accelerate and eventually devolve due to rough terrain of the area of landfall.
The Typhoon pounded Okinawa Islands of Japan on Tuesday, with powerful damaging winds of 175 kmph and gusting up to 250 kmph. Reportedly, the storm was so huge that it could not even be captured in a single image by using the fisheye lens used by astronauts of the International Space Station (ISS).
About 480,000 residents of Okinawa were urged by the Japanese government to stay at home or take refuge at community centres. Airports were also closed and residents living in the low lying areas along the shorelines were evacuated. More than 50,000 households were reported to be without power.
As mentioned earlier, Typhoon Neoguri is moving northeastward and has weakened due to the following reasons:
- Its proximity to land
- Neoguri has gained latitude and moved northeastward from 25⁰N to 31⁰N Latitude in last 24 hours
- It is moving to extra tropical latitudes, where the sea surface temperature is lower
- Neoguri has also gained good amount of vertical wind shield.
Meanwhile, there is another Typhoon Fausto building up in the eastern pacific. It is equivalent to a Category 1 hurricane. It is expected to intensify further but move away from the coastlines.
picture courtesy- cimss
