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Category 6 has moved! See the latest from Dr. Jeff Masters and Bob Henson here.Category 3 Typhoon Rammasun hits the Philippines
Category 3 Typhoon Rammasun powered ashore in the Philippines in the Bicol Region of Luzon Island near 5 am EDT on Tuesday, bringing sustained winds near 125 mph and torrential rains. Rammasun was the first typhoon to strike the Philippines since devastating Category 5 Super Typhoon Haiyan in November 2013, which left over 7,300 people dead or missing. Rammasun's eye passed just north of Samar Island where Haiyan initially made landfall, and brought sustained winds of 40 mph to Haiyan's ground zero, the city of Guiuan. The storm's main fury was felt farther to the north, though, on the southeastern portion of Luzon Island. Rammasun passed just north of Legaspi on Luzon, dropping the pressure to 966 mb near 10 UTC. Maximum sustained winds were 52 mph, and 7.13" of rain fell. Storm chaser James Reynolds is in Legaspi, and tweeted at 3:35 am EDT, "Big mall we're in being shredded, front breaking off into sea. We're safe surrounded by lots of concrete!"
Figure 1. In this MODIS image from 05 UTC July 15, 2014, Category 2 Typhoon Rammasun is enveloping virtually all of the Philippine Islands. Image credit: NASA.
Rammasun was intensifying rapidly as it approached landfall, and it is a good thing that interaction with land was able to halt this process when it did. The Japan Meteorological Agency put Rammasun's central pressure at 965mb at 06Z (2am EDT) Tuesday, then dropped it to 945mb at 09Z (5am EDT) as the storm was making landfall. The pressure rose to 950 mb by 12Z (8 am EDT) after the eye of the storm had spent three hours over land, but the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) still rated the storm at Category 3 strength with 125 mph winds. Satellite loops show the typhoon has weakened since landfall: the eye is much less distinct, and the heavy thunderstorms now have warmer cloud tops. Philippines radar shows the typhoon is bringing very heavy rains to much of Luzon, including the capital of Manila, where 12 million people live. Flooding is already occurring in Manila, and flood and wind damage in the city have to potential to make Rammasun one of the top ten most expensive natural disasters in Philippine history. According to NOAA's historical hurricane web page, the strongest typhoon ever to make a direct hit on Manila was Typhoon Angela of 1995, which was a strong Cat 1 or weak Cat 2 when it passed over the city (sustained winds of 90 - 105 mph, according to JTWC's annual report).
Figure 2. Rainfall rate of Typhoon Rammasun as estimated by the Special Sensor Microwave Imager Sounder (SSMIS) instrument on the DMSP F-17 polar orbiting satellite at 5:12 am EDT Tuesday July 15, 2014. Rainfall rates in excess of 1"/hour (orange colors) were indicated in the eyewall of the typhoon. Image credit: Navy Research Lab, Monterey.
After crossing Luzon, Rammasun will have the opportunity to re-strengthen over the South China Sea before making a second landfall in China near Hainan Island on Friday. Our two top track models, the GFS and European, predict a landfall in China between 03 - 12 UTC on Friday. Rammasun, which has a different name, "Glenda", in the Philippines, is a Siamese word of thunder god.
Jeff Masters
Figure 1. In this MODIS image from 05 UTC July 15, 2014, Category 2 Typhoon Rammasun is enveloping virtually all of the Philippine Islands. Image credit: NASA.
Rammasun was intensifying rapidly as it approached landfall, and it is a good thing that interaction with land was able to halt this process when it did. The Japan Meteorological Agency put Rammasun's central pressure at 965mb at 06Z (2am EDT) Tuesday, then dropped it to 945mb at 09Z (5am EDT) as the storm was making landfall. The pressure rose to 950 mb by 12Z (8 am EDT) after the eye of the storm had spent three hours over land, but the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) still rated the storm at Category 3 strength with 125 mph winds. Satellite loops show the typhoon has weakened since landfall: the eye is much less distinct, and the heavy thunderstorms now have warmer cloud tops. Philippines radar shows the typhoon is bringing very heavy rains to much of Luzon, including the capital of Manila, where 12 million people live. Flooding is already occurring in Manila, and flood and wind damage in the city have to potential to make Rammasun one of the top ten most expensive natural disasters in Philippine history. According to NOAA's historical hurricane web page, the strongest typhoon ever to make a direct hit on Manila was Typhoon Angela of 1995, which was a strong Cat 1 or weak Cat 2 when it passed over the city (sustained winds of 90 - 105 mph, according to JTWC's annual report).
Figure 2. Rainfall rate of Typhoon Rammasun as estimated by the Special Sensor Microwave Imager Sounder (SSMIS) instrument on the DMSP F-17 polar orbiting satellite at 5:12 am EDT Tuesday July 15, 2014. Rainfall rates in excess of 1"/hour (orange colors) were indicated in the eyewall of the typhoon. Image credit: Navy Research Lab, Monterey.
After crossing Luzon, Rammasun will have the opportunity to re-strengthen over the South China Sea before making a second landfall in China near Hainan Island on Friday. Our two top track models, the GFS and European, predict a landfall in China between 03 - 12 UTC on Friday. Rammasun, which has a different name, "Glenda", in the Philippines, is a Siamese word of thunder god.
Jeff Masters
The views of the author are his/her own and do not necessarily represent the position of The Weather Company or its parent, IBM.