Imagery from satellite (and astronauts) illustrates what a powerful storm Super Typhoon Vongfong became this week.
© NASAHigh resolution imagery of Vongfong’s eye on Wednesday.
Vongfong is churning north in the western Pacific on Thursday, with winds of 150 mph and a massive, well-defined eye. The super typhoon is not only powerful but large, with gale-force winds covering around 340,000 square miles - about 70,000 square miles larger than the state of Texas.
The Joint Typhoon Warning Center
forecasts Vongfong to continue north toward Japan over the next two to three days. The dangerous typhoon is expected to weaken as it tracks north, though it will still be packing winds around 115 mph - the equivalent of a category 3 hurricane - as it impacts Japan's Okinawa Prefecture, home of Kadena Air Base.
From there, Vongfong is forecast to move into southern Japan from Sunday into Monday with 90 mph, category 1 winds. While Vongfong is expected to make a quick departure from Japan as it transitions to a non-tropical system, it will still bring heavy rain to Japan. Eight to 12 inches of rain is possible from the typhoon in the far southeast prefectures, with widespread totals of three to five inches across the southern half of the country.
Additional images
Comment: In a spade of only two weeks, the Japanese have faced tropical storm Kammuri, the violent eruption of Mt Ontake volcano, two earthquakes near the Fukushima nuclear plants, and before typhoon Phanfone made its way out, typhoon Vongfong came in!