Super Typhoon Megi

[TWCmatthew]

Super Typhoon Megi in the western Pacific is about to bear down on parts of Manila and the Phillipenes. 180 mph sustained winds, with gusts around 220 mph are possible with this dangerous monster.

[gt1racerlHDl]

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/mtsat/twpac/flash-rb.html

[TWCmatthew]

Super Typhoon Megi is in the top 10 strongest storms in the world! There's going to be a lot of casualities in the western Pacific Islands in the next day or so.

[phw115wvwx]

Super Typhoon Megi is in the top 10 strongest storms in the world! There's going to be a lot of casualities in the western Pacific Islands in the next day or so.

That is scary!   The sustained winds are currently 180 mph as you said, but I saw a report from the Joint Typhoon Warning Center that it may had peaked at 185 mph sustained winds and a pressure of 893 mb over the last 12 hours.  I really hope the people in the Philippines will be okay, but I'm afraid there will be substantial loss of life and destruction there.  Furthermore, Megi is predicted to make a second landfall over southeastern China later in the week.  It'll still be a very strong typhoon at that point.

[TWCmatthew]

Super Typhoon Megi is in the top 10 strongest storms in the world! There's going to be a lot of casualities in the western Pacific Islands in the next day or so.

That is scary!   The sustained winds are currently 180 mph as you said, but I saw a report from the Joint Typhoon Warning Center that it may had peaked at 185 mph sustained winds and a pressure of 893 mb over the last 12 hours.  I really hope the people in the Philippines will be okay, but I'm afraid there will be substantial loss of life and destruction there.  Furthermore, Megi is predicted to make a second landfall over southeastern China later in the week.  It'll still be a very strong typhoon at that point.

Wow, rarely does any storms' pressure fall belom 900mb...

[WeatherWitness]

I'm very confused right now. From the lastest satellite imagery, it looks like Megi will be making a direct hit on Philippines cities such as Roxas or Baguio. But when I check the weather.com forecasts for these cities, all I see are a 60% chance of thunderstorms for the next few days with maximum wind speeds of 10 to 15 mph. Am I looking at the map or forecast incorrectly, or are typhoons different than hurricanes?

[phw115wvwx]

I'm very confused right now. From the lastest satellite imagery, it looks like Megi will be making a direct hit on Philippines cities such as Roxas or Baguio. But when I check the weather.com forecasts for these cities, all I see are a 60% chance of thunderstorms for the next few days with maximum wind speeds of 10 to 15 mph. Am I looking at the map or forecast incorrectly, or are typhoons different than hurricanes?

There's no difference between typhoons and hurricanes.  Typhoons are just hurricanes that form in the western Pacific.

[WeatherWitness]

I'm very confused right now. From the lastest satellite imagery, it looks like Megi will be making a direct hit on Philippines cities such as Roxas or Baguio. But when I check the weather.com forecasts for these cities, all I see are a 60% chance of thunderstorms for the next few days with maximum wind speeds of 10 to 15 mph. Am I looking at the map or forecast incorrectly, or are typhoons different than hurricanes?

There's no difference between typhoons and hurricanes.  Typhoons are just hurricanes that form in the western Pacific.

So then I wonder what the deal is with the forecasts? Maybe the typhoon won't be hitting those cities, but I thought that's what the map showed and then would expect to see lots of rain and wind in the forecast.

And I did know that typhoon and hurricane meant the same thing, just wondered if maybe they had different "characteristics" depending on where they were in the world (but I guess that's a "no").

[phw115wvwx]

So then I wonder what the deal is with the forecasts? Maybe the typhoon won't be hitting those cities, but I thought that's what the map showed and then would expect to see lots of rain and wind in the forecast.

And I did know that typhoon and hurricane meant the same thing, just wondered if maybe they had different "characteristics" depending on where they were in the world (but I guess that's a "no").

Try looking at Baguio now, and you'll see a change.  International forecasts are always poorer in quality sadly.  In regards to the differences between hurricanes and typhoons, the western Pacific does allow for more intense storms with lower pressures.  However, there's no real difference in terms of structure or characteristics.  People just call the same storm by different names, which I wish was changed so that we're all talking about the same storm with only one universal name.

[TWCToday]

This is a monster of a storm

[Jonathon]

Here's the forecast map.