Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms

In the Western Pacific:

Typhoon Wipha is located approximately 593 nm south-southwest of Yokosuka, Japan.

Huge and powerful Category 2 Typhoon Wipha is now weakening as it heads north towards Japan. The storm peaked as a Category 4 storm with 135 mph winds on Sunday, but has weakened to 110 mph winds. Today, Wipha will encounter cooler waters and higher wind shear, which should substantially weaken the storm as it recurves to the northeast and passes just offshore from Tokyo. The coast of Japan should experience winds below hurricane force, if the core of Wipha passes offshore as expected, but heavy rains of 4 - 8" capable of causing damaging flooding will likely affect portions of the coast, including Tokyo. Heavy rains from Wipha may be a concern for the Fukushima nuclear site.

Typhoon Nari nearing landfall in Vietnam - Torrential rains are falling in Vietnam due to Category 1 Typhoon Nari, which is nearing landfall in the central part of the country. More than 180,000 people have been evacuated in advance of the storm. Nari battered the Philippines on Friday, killing thirteen people and leaving 2.1 million people without power on the main Philippine island of Luzon.

In the Eastern Pacific:

In the Eastern Pacific, we have two tropical cyclones: newly-developed Tropical Storm Priscilla, and Tropical Storm Octave. Octave is the only one that is a threat to land, and the 60-mph tropical storm is headed NNW towards Mexico's Baja Peninsula, where 3 - 6" of rain is expected over the next few days. Octave is expected to dissipate before making it to Baja, due to increasing dry air and wind shear.

Octave and Priscilla are embedded in a large plume of tropical moisture that is riding up to the northeast over Mexico and Texas. Flood watches and warnings are posted over many areas of Texas, where widespread rains of 2 - 6" have fallen over the past day. While the heavy rains have caused some moderate flooding, the precipitation is mostly welcome, as it will make a substantial dent in the multi-year drought that has gripped much of Texas. Much of the moisture generating the heavy rains in Texas is actually coming from the Gulf of Mexico, due to the clockwise flow of low-level air around a high pressure system over the Upper Midwest.

In the Indian Ocean:

Phailin is officially the strongest tropical cyclone ever recorded to make landfall over India.

Flood waters have left nearly 100,000 people stranded in Mayurbhanj and Balasore districts. The death toll from the cyclone has risen to 27 in Orissa, with four people killed in the floods. A flood alert has been also sounded in the neighbouring state of Bihar. There are fears of heavy rainfall in at least two dozen districts after the weakened storm changed course and moved towards northern parts of Bihar bordering Nepal.