The biggest storm of the year is coming
An enormous storm in the Western Pacific rapidly strengthened overnight into the year's most powerful super typhoon.
Super Typhoon Vongfong reached sustained winds of 250 kph this morning, with gusts of up to 306 kph according to the US Navy's Joint Typhoon Warning Center in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, reports AP.
Satellite estimates from the Japan Meteorological Agency suggest the massive storm's central pressure dropped to 905 millibars, making it the most intense storm of any kind this year, according to The Washington Post.
The average sea level pressure is 1,013 millibars. Typically, storms with a big pressure gradient, or difference in pressure, have stronger winds.
Vongfong is the fifth super typhoon to threaten the Pacific this year.
There were also five super typhoons in 2012 and five in 2013, including the deadly Super Typhoon Haiyan, which was one of the strongest tropical cyclones ever recorded.
Late July through to October is peak typhoon season in the Western Pacific.
Super Typhoon Vongfong is currently a Category 4 tropical cyclone but could grow into an even more powerful Category 5 storm by tomorrow as it lumbers over warm water, which will fuel its powerful spin.
Tropical storms become super typhoons when their winds top 241 kph.
Super typhoons are equivalent to Category 4 or 5 hurricanes.
Vongfong is expected to sharply turn and head north by Friday, weakening before it nears Japan, according to current forecasts.
The storm is following a similar track to Typhoon Phanfone, which lashed central and eastern Japan with fierce winds and torrential rain last week.
News break - October 8
