Typhoon Soudelor Heads For Taiwan With 145 MPH Winds
KPIX 5 Morning Weather Anchor Roberta Gonzales answers the questions you never get to ask on-air.
Q: Roberta; I hear there is a Super Typhoon and it's going to nail Taiwan. What's the deal? -- Robert Crawford; Pleasanton
A: There WAS a Super Typhoon, it has been downsized, but still very dangerous!
On Monday, Typhoon Soudelor was labeled "Super Typhoon Soudelor," the strongest tropical cyclone on Earth so far in 2015. Soudelor became the fifth Super Typhoon of this year. A Super Typhoon is defined by sustained one-minute wind speeds of at least 150 mph.
Now this is incredible, at its peak this past Monday afternoon, Soudelor was estimated by the U.S. military's Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC,) to pack maximum one-minute sustained winds of 180 mph and gusts to 220 mph.
According to today's bulletin from the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC), Soudelor had weakened but was still the equivalent of a Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 115 mph (one-minute average) with higher gusts.
It is anticipated, by the time Soudelor plows into Taiwan late Friday evening, it will have sustained winds of 125 to 145 mph. (What's the difference between a typhoon and hurricane? LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION!)
Here are the latest facts:
- Typhoon Soudelor weakened from its peak intensity earlier this week, therefore no longer a Super Typhoon, but remains a formidable, dangerous typhoon.
- Soudelor appears to carve a path a west-northwest track, churning in the open waters of the Western Pacific Ocean. This will allow further strengthening.
- If remaining on this course, the Typhoon will move towards Japan's far southwest Ryukyu Islands as well as Taiwan and Eastern China by the end of the week.
I would love to hear from you! Please send weather questions, observations and photos to me, Gonzales@kpix.cbs.com and I look forward to hearing from you!
