MONUMENTAL EARTH CHANGES: Weather Anomalies - 3 Tropical Cyclones Form At The Same Time In The Southern Hemisphere!

3 tropical storms. © Google Maps

February 11, 2016 - SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE - Three tropical cyclones formed almost simultaneously in the Southern Hemisphere.

Daya was born in the Indian Ocean, whereas Eleven and Tatiana formed in the Pacific Ocean.

The tropical cyclone Daya formed east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean and is moving in a south-easterly direction.

In the eye of the storm, wind speeds were measured at 72 km / h, with gusts reaching 97 km / h.

Tropical cyclone Daya.

Tropical Cyclone 11 is still nameless. It formed to the east of the islands of Vanuatu in the Pacific Ocean.

The wind speed at the epicenter is 72 km / h, with gusts up to 97 km / h.

Tropical cyclone 11.

The cyclone is moving in a southeasterly direction and could grow significantly worse in the near future.

The tropical cyclone Tatiana formed east of Australia and to the west of the islands of Vanuatu in the Pacific Ocean.

Tropical cyclone Tatiana.

It is currently moving in a south-easterly direction.

The wind speed at the epicenter is 80 km / h, with gusts up to 105 km / h. Hopefully they will not sweep through residential areas. - Strange Sounds.

MONUMENTAL EARTH CHANGES: Nine Category Five Storms Hit Planet Earth In 205 - The Second Most On Record!

Tropical Cyclone Pam

January 2, 2016 - EARTH - Category Five: the phase evokes an almost reverential awe in novice and seasoned hurricane watchers alike, as one considers the incredible power and majesty of these most perfect but terrifyingly destructive storms on the planet. As we look back on the year in weather, a striking feature of 2015 is the bumper crop of these fearsome storms that appeared--thanks to El Niño bringing record-warm ocean temperatures to large swaths of the Pacific Ocean.

Nine Category 5 storms whipped into life over the world's oceans in 2015: five in the Northwest Pacific, one in the Northeast Pacific, one in the Southeast Pacific, and two in the South Indian Ocean. Since accurate global satellite records began in 1990, only one year has seen more. That record is held by the El Niño year of 1997, which had twelve Category 5 storms--ten of them in the Northwest Pacific.

Figure 1. Global Category 5 tropical cyclones from 1990 - 2015, as rated by NOAA's National Hurricane Center and the U.S. Navy's Joint Typhoon Warning Center.
There is no obvious trend in the numbers, though the past two years have seen an unusually large number of Cat 5s. © Weather Underground

Here, then, is a "rogue's gallery" of all the Category 5 storms on Earth in 2015: 

Hurricane Patricia. © NASA

Cat Five #9, Northeast Pacific
Hurricane Patricia as seen by the MODIS instrument on NASA's Terra spacecraft at 1:30 pm EDT October 23, 2015. At the time, Patricia was the most intense hurricane ever observed in the Western Hemisphere, with 200 mph sustained surface winds and a central pressure of 879 mb. Patricia made landfall in an relatively unpopulated area near Cuixmala in Southwest Mexico on October 23 as a Category 5 storm with 165 mph winds, killing fourteen and doing $300 million in damage. 

Super Typhoon Atsani. © NASA

Cat Five #8, Northwest Pacific
Super Typhoon Atsani as seen by the MODIS instrument on NASA's Aqua spacecraft at 05:30 UTC August 19, 2015. Six hours later, Atsani hit peak strength with 160 mph winds and a 925 mb central pressure. Atsani spent its life over the open ocean waters to the east and southeast of Japan, and did not affect any land areas.

Super Typhoon Soudelor

Cat Five #7, Northwest Pacific
Super Typhoon Soudelor as seen by the VIIRS instrument on the Suomi spacecraft at 03:43 UTC August 4, 2015. At the time, Soudelor was a peak-strength Category 5 storm with 180 mph winds and a 900 mb central pressure. Soudelor passed directly over Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands on August 2 as a Category 2 storm, causing widespread damage and injuring ten people on the island. Soudelor hit Japan's Ryukyu Islands on August 5, causing over $3 million in damage, then hit Taiwan as a Category 3 storm with 120 mph winds on August 7, knocking out power to 4.85 million households--the largest power outage in Taiwan's history. On August 8, Soudelor hit Fujian Province in China as a Category 1 storm with 85 mph winds, causing over $3 billion in damage. Soudelor killed a total of 41 people and did $3.2 billion in damage along its entire path.

Super Typhoon Dolphin. © NASA

Cat Five #6, Northwest Pacific
Super Typhoon Dolphin as seen by at 01:05 UTC May 16, 2015 by MODIS. At the time, Dolphin was an intensifying Category 4 storm and would reach peak intensity as a Category 5 storm with 160 mph winds 17 hours later. Dolphin affected Guam and Rota in the U.S. Mariana Islands as a Category 2 storm with sustained winds of 110 mph. The eye of Dolphin passed through the channel between the islands of Guam and Rota, and Andersen Air Force Base on Guam experienced sustained winds as high as 84 mph and a peak gust of 106 mph. Damage in the Mariana Islands from the typhoon was estimated at $10 million.

Super Typhoon Noul. © The University of Wisconsin/CIMSS

Cat Five #5, Northwest Pacific
Super Typhoon Noul as seen by the new Japanese Himawari-8 satellite at 00:50 UTC May 10, 2015. At the time, Noul was a peak-strength Category 5 storm with 160 mph winds and a 915 mb central pressure. Noul hit northeast Luzon in the Philippines at 09 UTC May 10 as a Category 5 storm with 160 mph winds, killing two and causing less than $1 million in damage. Noul was the fourth strongest typhoon on record for so early in the year. The only stronger ones were Super Typhoon Amy of 1971, which deepened to 890 mb on May 2, Super Typhoon Iris of 1951, which hit 909 mb on May 3, and Super Typhoon Maysak that occurred just over a month previously (March 31, 2015, 905 mb central pressure.) The University of Wisconsin CIMSS, put together a remarkable hi-res satellite animation of the storm from the Himawari-8 satellite (which is still in check-out mode.)

Super Typhoon Maysak. © NASA

Cat Five #4, Northwest Pacific
Super Typhoon Maysak as seen from the International Space Station at approximately 6 pm EDT Tuesday March 31, 2015 (just after dawn local time.) At the time, Mayask was at peak intensity, with sustained winds of 160 mph (as estimated by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center) and a central pressure of 905 mb (as estimated by the Japan Meteorological Agency.) Maysak was the strongest typhoon ever observed in the Northwest Pacific prior to April, and one of only three Category 5 typhoons ever observed in the Northwest Pacific so early in the year. Maysak killed 9 and did $8.5 million in damage to several small islands in the Federated States of Micronesia, which it struck at Category 5 strength on March 31. The nine people killed by the storm made it Micronesia's second deadliest storm in recorded history, according to EM-DAT. Their deadliest disaster was Category 4 Typhoon Chataan, which dumped 19.90" (506 mm) of rain in 24 hours on Chuuk, causing landslides that killed 47 people. Maysak is the 2nd most expensive disaster in Micronesia's history; the most expensive was Category 1 Typhoon Nina, which did $6 million (1987 dollars) in damage on November 21, 1987.

Tropical Cyclone Pam

Cat Five #3, Southeast Pacific
Tropical Cyclone Pam near peak intensity (165 mph winds, 896 mb pressure), as seen by the VIIRS instrument on the Suomi satellite at 10:42 am EDT March 13, 2015, just southeast of Efate Island, where the capital of Vanuatu, Port Vila, lies. Pam killed 16 people and did $250 million in damage to the island nation of Vanuatu, making it the 2nd most expensive disaster in their history (the most expensive, according to EM-DAT: Cyclone Eric of 1985, which did $173 million in damage in 1985 dollars, or $377 million 2015 dollars.) Pam was the third most intense storm in the entire Southern Hemisphere by central pressure, only after Cyclone Zoe of 2002 and Cyclone Gafilo of 2004. Pam is tied with Cyclone Orson and Cyclone Monica for having the strongest sustained 10-minute average winds of any cyclone on record in the Southern Hemisphere. Cat Five #2, Southwest Indian

Tropical Cyclone Eunice. © NASA

Cat Five #2, Southwest Indian
Tropical Cyclone Eunice as seen by the MODIS instrument at 05:30 UTC January 30, 2015, when the storm was at peak intensity (160 mph winds, 900 mb pressure.) Eunice was the 3rd strongest cyclone ever observed in the Southwest Indian Ocean by pressure, and the strongest by winds. Fortunately, Eunice affected only ocean areas in the South Indian Ocean.

Tropical Cyclone Bansi. © Astronaut Sam Cristoforetti

Cat Five #1, Southwest Indian
Tropical Cyclone Bansi as seen from the International Space Station, when lightning was lighting up the eye. The date of the photo was not given, but presumably was January 13, 2015, when Bansi was near peak intensity as a Category 5 storm with 160 mph winds, according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center. Bansi grazed the French island of La Reunion, off the coast of Madagascar, on January 13, dumping up to 22 inches of rain. After weakening to a Category 2 storm, Bansi passed about 90 miles from Rodrigues Island, which recorded sustained winds of 93 mph. Approximately 90 percent of the island was left without power.

The near misses

Three tropical cyclone achieved an intensity of 155 mph winds, just missing the cutoff for being classified as Category 5 storms. It is possible that in post-season analysis, these storms will be classified as Category 5 (this happened to two typhoons in the Pacific in post-season analysis after the 2014 typhoon season.) The near-miss storms of 2015 were Hurricane Joaquin in the Atlantic, Tropical Cyclone Chapala in the Arabian Sea, and Super Typhoon Nangka in the Northwest Pacific. - Wunderground.

MONUMENTAL EARTH CHANGES: Super-Cyclone Pam Batters Islands Of Vanuatu - The Strongest Tropical Cyclone In The South Pacific ON RECORD; 4 Cyclones In The South Pacific Simultaneously; Widespread Destruction; Dozens Of Deaths!

Cyclone Pam was heading southwest when NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired this image at 1:30 p.m. local time (2:20 Universal Time)
on March 13, 2015, shortly before the storm struck the island of Efate, and Vanuatu’s capital city, Port Vila.

March 15, 2015 - SOUTH PACIFIC - Tropical Cyclone Pam may have weakened somewhat Saturday morning, but it was still pounding the islands of Vanuatu after hours of fierce winds and torrential rain.

"#CyclonePam still tearing through #Vanuatu. 'Much bigger than expected,' says our colleague in Port Vila. Initial reports of devastation," tweeted the Australian branch of UNICEF.

Pam, one of the strongest storms seen in the South Pacific in years, earlier made a direct hit on Port Vila, the capital, raising fears of mass destruction.

In its 8 a.m. Saturday update, the Vanuatu Meteorological Services warned of "very destructive hurricane force winds" of 155 mph (250 kilometers per hour) in Shefa and Tafea provinces, with several others facing "very rough to phenomenal seas with heavy swells."

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, said the cyclone had weakened from the equivalent of a Category 5 hurricane to a Category 4. It has dumped more than 9 inches of rain on the capital in a 36-hour period and has wind gusts of up to 190 mph (305 kph).

A resident assesses damage caused by Cyclone in Tarawa, Kiribati, on March 11, 2015. © abc.net.au

Pam is forecast to move southeastward along the western edge of the southern islands of Vanuatu. It isn't expected to make any additional landfalls before dissipating.

It will continue to weaken as it crosses cooler waters and encounters higher wind shear.

Pam is expected to pass east of New Zealand on Sunday and into Monday. It could bring heavy rainfall to North Island, including Auckland.

The capital,the biggest city in the Vanuatu island chain,sits on the coastline, which is vulnerable to storm surges during powerful cyclones.

Tropical Cyclone Pam is the strongest storm to make landfallsince the devastating Super Typhoon Haiyan hit the Philippines in 2013.

Chloe Morrison, an emergency communications director for the humanitarian organization World Vision, told CNN that she could see some light between her boarded-up windows but it was still hard to see the totality of the destruction outside the house where she and seven others huddled in a back room during the storm.

WATCH: Passage of Super-Cyclone Pam.

"Seven hours hunkered down and it's still not safe to go outside," she said. "The winds are still really howling. We're really lucky to be in a concrete house."

Part of the tin roof twisted off the house and landed by one of the windows, she said. She also noted that two trees outside didn't get uprooted, but they had not one bit of fruit or any leaves remaining.

Despite the "quite terrifying ordeal," Morrison said, their house didn't have any damage.

Through the night, the wind and torrential rain made it sound like an angry ocean was just outside their doors, she said.

World Vision, which says it's been based in Vanuatu for more than 30 years, said its emergency assessment team would head out to view the damage when it is safe.

The staff helped prepare communities on the islands for the cyclone by positioning water, food, blankets, tarpaulins, and shelter, hygiene and kitchen kits in key places, it said, as well as advising on disaster preparedness.


WATCH: Cyclone Pam menaces Vanuatu.

Residents have been advised to seek shelter in places such as churches, universities and schools.

"The strongest thing they've got is cement churches," said Inga Mepham, program director for CARE International for the Vanuatu program. "Some of them don't have that. It's hard to find a structure that you'd think would be able to withstand a Category 5 (storm)."'Vanuatu Monster'

Earlier, photographer Michael McLennan -- who said the storm is being called the "Vanuatu Monster" -- told CNN that the "strength of winds is incredible."

Video footage he shot earlier Friday showed palm trees being whipped by wind and rain.

Tropical Cyclone Pam slams Vanuatu capital

Evacuation alerts have been issued for several parts of the country.

Even before the sun rose Saturday, Vanuatu was already getting hit hard, with most communication and power cut off due to the storm.

"The wind outside is terrifying," Michael Wolfe, World Vision's national director in Vanuatu, told that organization. "I can't imagine what it's like for families out there who weren't able to find safe shelter before the storm."

The archipelago nation northeast of Australia contains 83 small islands, many of which have little infrastructure and lack the strong housing structures that can endure a walloping storm.

Because of the tropical climate in Vanuatu, some of the housing is made of lighter building materials, including straw and corrugated metals.

Residents prepared for the storm, boarding up windows and chopping down trees that stand close to buildings in case they could become debris or cause further damage or injury.


WATCH: Cyclone Pam make landfall in Port Vila, Vanuatu.

CNN host Bill Weir, who was recently in Vanuatu on assignment, said that while Port Vila has some modern development in the form of an airport, large hotels and a convention center that's under construction, life on some of the islands has remained almost unchanged for thousands of years.

"For search and rescue, for bringing food and supplies and medicine, it's extremely challenging," he said.

Pam has triggered watches and warnings in the Solomon Islands and New Zealand. - CNN.

4 cyclones in South Pacific simultaneously: The biggest, Super-Cyclone Pam, is South Pacific's strongest ever

Three powerful tropical cyclones bearing down on Australia and Vanuatu: Olwyn (left), Nathan (center), and Pam (right)
were seen by MODIS on NASA’s Aqua satellite at 2:20 Universal Time on March 13, 2015.  © NASA

The strongest tropical cyclone on record in the South Pacific, Tropical Cyclone Pam, a Category 5 super storm, hit Vanuatu last night causing deaths and destruction. This morning Pam had a central pressure as low as 899hPa and was gusting up to 335km per hour at its centre.

It is one of four cyclones unusually affecting the South Pacific at the same time.

The Vanuatu Meteorological Services warned very destructive hurricane-force winds of 250 kilometres per hour continued to affect the country's southern provinces this morning. It said the central pressure of the system was estimated at 900 hectopascals, which is among the strongest tropical cyclones on record.

Furthermore, at 8:00 am today, Saturday, the Fiji Meteorological Service reported that Severe Tropical Cyclone Pam (Category 5) was located about 890km West of Nadi.

"It has a central pressure of 899hPa and average wind speeds of 250km per hour close to the centre with gusts up to 335km per hour. It is currently moving South 20km per hour. It is gradually turning southeasterly," Fiji Met stated.

Vanuatu

The full impact of Pam on Vanuatu today is unknown as communications in the worst hit areas are not restored, but early reports state dozens of deaths.

NASA's Goddard Space Centre has released images today of Cyclone Pam taken shortly before it struck the island of Efate, which is home to Vanuatu's capital city, Port Vila.

Cyclone Pam was heading in a southwesterly direction when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Aqua satellite acquired this image at 1:30 p.m. local time on March 13, 2015.

"The eastern side of Efate likely took the strongest hit from the cyclone's eyewall, but Port Vila, which is on the southwestern side of the island, faced extremely destructive conditions. As the storm approached the city, it had sustained winds up to 265 kilometers (165 miles) per hour, making it the equivalent of a category 5 hurricane. Dozens of people are feared dead and forecasters expect flooding and catastrophic damage in the city," NASA's Earth Observatory website reported.

Nathan, Olwyn and Bavi

On the same day, another major tropical cyclone, Category 3 Olwyn, made landfall in Western Australia near the city of Carnarvon and captured on NASA's Terra satellite. Thousands of people in Carnarvon lost power as a result of the storm, which weakened as it pushed inland.

Nathan has been circling the coast of Queensland, Australia, the last few days, but is expected to dissipate over the course of Friday.

A mosaic image compiled by NASA shows three storms - Pam, Nathan, and Olwyn - swirling near the continent on March 11, 2015. The mosaic is based on data collected during three orbital passes of the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on Suomi NPP.

A fourth storm, Bavi, is in the Pacific Ocean well north of Pam, and not shown on the image.

After Vanuatu, Pam is expected to head toward northern New Zealand.

According to Wikipedia, on the available records, a total of 70 tropical cyclones attained a pressure of less than 900 hPa (mbar) (26.56 inHg), most of which occurred in the Western North Pacific Ocean. The strongest tropical cyclone recorded worldwide, as measured by minimum central pressure, was Typhoon Tip, which reached a pressure of 870 hPa (25.69 inHg) on October 12, 1979.

The most intense tropical cyclone in the South Pacific was Cyclone Zoe, which formed in 2002, and was also the most intense storm in the Southern Hemisphere.

However, by 10-minute sustained wind speed, the strongest tropical cyclone in the South Pacific is Cyclone Pam. - Matangi Tonga.

WEATHER ANOMALIES: More Signs Of Magnetic Polar Migration - NOAA Study Reveals That Tropical Cyclone "Maximum Intensity" Is Shifting Toward The Poles!

May 15, 2014 - CLIMATE CHANGE - Over the past 30 years, the location where tropical cyclones reach maximum intensity has been shifting toward the poles in both the northern and southern hemispheres at a rate of about 35 miles, or one-half a degree of latitude, per decade according to a new study, The Poleward Migration of the Location of Tropical Cyclone Maximum Intensity, published tomorrow in Nature.

Typhoon Francisco and Super Typhoon Lekima on October 23, 2013 as they tracked northwestward toward China and
Japan. (Credit: Tim Olander and Rick Kohrs, SSEC/CIMSS/UW-Madison, based on Japan Meteorological Agency data.)

As tropical cyclones move into higher latitudes, some regions closer to the equator may experience reduced risk, while coastal populations and infrastructure poleward of the tropics may experience increased risk. With their devastating winds and flooding, tropical cyclones can especially endanger coastal cities not adequately prepared for them. Additionally, regions in the tropics that depend on cyclones' rainfall to help replenish water resources may be at risk for lower water availability as the storms migrate away from them.

The amount of poleward migration varies by region. The greatest migration is found in the northern and southern Pacific and South Indian Oceans, but there is no evidence that the peak intensity of Atlantic hurricanes has migrated poleward in the past 30 years.

By using the locations where tropical cyclones reach their maximum intensity, the scientists have high confidence in their results.

"Historical intensity estimates can be very inconsistent over time, but the location where a tropical cyclone reaches its maximum intensity is a more reliable value and less likely to be influenced by data discrepancies or uncertainties," said Jim Kossin, the paper's lead author, who is a scientist with NOAA's National Climatic Data Center currently stationed at the NOAA Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Consistent with this poleward shift, many other studies are showing an expansion of the tropics over the same period since 1980.

"The rate at which tropical cyclones are moving toward the poles is consistent with the observed rates of tropical expansion," explains Kossin. "The expansion of the tropics appears to be influencing the environmental factors that control tropical cyclone formation and intensification, which is apparently driving their migration toward the poles."

The expansion of the tropics has been observed independently from the poleward migration of tropical cyclones, but both phenomena show similar variability and trends, strengthening the idea that the two phenomena are linked. Scientists have attributed the expansion of the tropics in part to human-caused increases of greenhouse gases, stratospheric ozone depletion, and increases in atmospheric pollution.

However, determining whether the poleward shift of tropical cyclone maximum intensity can be linked to human activity will require more and longer-term investigations.

"Now that we see this clear trend, it is crucial that we understand what has caused it - so we can understand what is likely to occur in the years and decades to come," says Gabriel Vecchi, scientist at NOAA's Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory and coauthor of the study. NOAA’s mission is to understand and predict changes in the Earth's environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and to conserve and manage our coastal and marine resources. - NOAA News.

EXTREME WEATHER: Tropical Cyclone Mahasen Kills At Least 18 In Bangladesh, Burma And Sri Lanka - Could Bring Further Life-Threatening Conditions To 8.2 Million People In Bangladesh, Burma And India; Tens Of Thousands Already Displaced!

May 16, 2013 - BANGLADESH - Cyclone Mahasen buffeted Bangladesh's low-lying coast on Thursday, bearing down on the ports of Chittagong and Cox's Bazar, as tens of thousands of people huddled in shelters from a storm the United Nations says threatens 4.1 million people.

Winds of up to 100 kph (60 mph) lashed the coast and whipped up waves, with an expected 2.1 metres (seven foot) storm surge and heavy rain likely to cause widespread flooding.

People carry their belongings as they move to a shelter as cyclone Mahasen approaches, in Cox's Bazar May 15, 2013.
REUTERS/Stringer

Media reports said five people were killed, some by falling trees, and thousands of rickety huts were destroyed as the storm brought torrential rain.

"We have shifted most of the people who are vulnerable," said Muhammad Abdullah, administration chief for the coastal area, adding that about 1 million people had been moved into hundreds of cyclone shelters. "We had to force some because they refused to leaves their homes."

Bangladesh, where storms have in the past killed many people, has more than 1,400 cyclone-proof buildings.

But across its southeastern border in Myanmar, tens of thousands of people on the coast were sheltering in camps and huts made of timber and palm fronds.

In 2008, Cyclone Nargis killed up to 140,000 people in Myanmar's Irrawaddy delta, south of the main city, Yangon.

Cyclone Mahasen moved in across the bay of Bengal and first hit Khepupara on Bangladesh's southern coast, then weakened as it tracked northeast towards the two ports near Myanmar.

The streets of Chittagong, the country's second city, were almost deserted before the storm hit. Shops were shuttered and roads were empty except for a few cars and rickshaws. The port in Chittagong and Cox's Bazar airport were closed on Wednesday.

Witnesses said low-lying coastal areas were covered in waist-deep water as the storm crossed and trees were uprooted and houses damaged.

Bangladesh raised its storm warning to seven, on a scale up to 10, as Mahasen approached one of the poorest countries in Asia.

The storm killed at least seven people and displaced 3,881 in Sri Lanka as it tracked across the Bay of Bengal towards Bangladesh.

"As per the latest storm trajectory, 4.1 million people have been identified as living in at risk areas in the districts of Chittagong and Cox's Bazar," said the U.N. Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Meteorologists said Mahasen should weaken quickly into a tropical rain depression over land.

"Mudslides will also be a concern as the heavy rain spreads farther north and east on Thursday night and Friday into easternmost India and northern Myanmar," said meteorologists at Accuweather.com storm forecasters.

"PEOPLE ARE AFRAID"

A child sleeps inside a shelter house before cyclone Mahasen approaches in Chittagong May 16, 2013.
REUTERS/Andrew Biraj

People gather by the shore of Bay of Bengal before cyclone Mahasen approaches in Chittagong May 16, 2013.
REUTERS/Andrew Biraj

The U.S.-based Tropical Storm Risk said Mahasen should track northeast after hitting Chittagong, missing Myanmar.

Myanmar's government had planned to move 38,000 internally displaced people by Tuesday from camps in Rakhine State in the west, most of them Rohingya Muslims who lost their homes in 2012 during violence between ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingyas.

Many had refused to relocate, afraid of the authorities' intentions and unwilling to get into military trucks, but they changed their minds after strong wind and rain on Wednesday night.

At a camp by Hmanzi Junction near the state capital of Sittwe, a Reuters reporter saw Rohingya loading their belongings into trucks provided by humanitarian groups, the U.N. refugee agency and the government.

Barbara Manzi, head of OCHA in Myanmar, said women and children were moving to shelters in a nearby village, while the men would stay at the camp.

At the Ohn Taw camp at sea level by Sittwe, displaced people were loading their possessions onto trishaw taxis and carts to move to a nearby village. Others were going on foot, carrying pots, mats and blankets.

"People are afraid of losing their place here. They didn't want to go to another place, so they didn't want to go with the soldiers," said Nabi Husain, 36.

Myanmar is a mainly Buddhist country but about 5 percent of its 60 million people are Muslims, including the Rohingya, who are denied citizenship and considered by many Buddhists to be illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

They face a growing anti-Muslim campaign led by radical Buddhist monks. A Reuters Special Report found apartheid-like policies were segregating Muslims from Buddhists in Rakhine State. - Reuters.


WATCH: Cyclone Mahasen - Landfall Near Chittagong.

Cyclone Mahasen has struck the southern coast of Bangladesh, lashing remote fishing villages with heavy rain and fierce winds that flattened mud and straw huts and forced the evacuation of more than 1 million people.

The main section of the storm reached land on Thursday and immediately began weakening, according to Mohammad Shah Alam, director of the Bangladesh meteorological department. However, its forward movement was also slowing, meaning that towns in its path would have to weather the storm for longer, he said.

Even before the brunt of the storm hit, at least 18 deaths related to Mahasen were reported in Bangladesh, Burma and Sri Lanka.

The storm could bring life-threatening conditions to about 8.2 million people in Bangladesh, Burma and north-east India, according to the UN's Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Danger was particularly high for tens of thousands of displaced Rohingya people living in plastic-roofed tents and huts made of reeds in dozens of refugee camps along Burma's western coast.

Driven from their homes by violence, members of the Muslim minority group refused to follow evacuation orders. Many distrust officials in the majority-Buddhist country, where Rohingya have faced decades of discrimination.

UN officials, hoping they would inspire greater trust, fanned out across the area to encourage people to leave.

A Rohingya family prepare to move to a safer area at a camp for displaced people on the outskirts of Sittwe.
Photograph: Soe Than Win/AFP/Getty Images

Early on Thursday, the cyclone battered the southern Bangladesh fishing village of Khepurpara along the Bay of Bengal with 62mph (100km/h) winds and was heading east toward the city of Chittagong and the seafront resort town of Cox's Bazar. River ferries and boat services were suspended, and scores of factories near the Bay of Bengal were closed. The military said it was keeping 22 navy ships and 19 air force helicopters on alert.

Tens of thousands of people fled their shanty homes along the coast and packed into cyclone shelters, schools, government office buildings and some of the 300 hotels in Cox's Bazar to wait out the storm. Some brought their livestock, which took shelter outside.

"We have seen such a disaster before," said Mohammad Abu Taleb, who shut down his convenience shop in the city of 200,000. "It's better to stay home. I'm not taking any chance."

A 1991 cyclone that hit Bangladesh killed an estimated 139,000 people and left millions homeless. In 2008, Burma's southern delta was devastated by cyclone Nargis, which swept away entire farming villages and killed more than 130,000 people.

Both those cyclones were much more powerful than cyclone Mahasen, which is rated category 1 – the weakest level. But heavy rain and storm surge could prove deadlier than the wind. Bangladesh's meteorological office said the cyclone was moving so slowly it may take a whole day for it to pass the coast.

The Bangladesh ministry of disaster management said more than 1 million people had been evacuated from coastal areas. Television stations reported the deaths of two men, one of whom was crushed by a tree uprooted by the wind.

Related heavy rains and flooding in Sri Lanka were blamed for eight deaths earlier this week. At least eight people and possibly many more were killed in Burma when overcrowded boats carrying more than 100 Rohingya capsized as they fled the cyclone on Monday night. Only 43 people had been rescued by Thursday, and more than 50 were still missing.

India's meteorological department forecast damage to the north-eastern states of Assam, Mizoram, Manipur, Tripura and Nagaland, and advised fishermen off the west coast of the country to be cautious for the next 36 hours.

Much attention was focused on western Burma because of the crowded, low-lying camps where many Rohingya remain.

In Rakhine state, around 140,000 people – mostly Rohingya – have been living in the camps since last year, when two outbreaks of sectarian violence between the Muslim minority and ethnic Rakhine Buddhists forced many Rohingya from their homes.

"Pack and leave," a Rakhine state official, U Hla Maung, warned as he walked through a camp near Sittwe, the state capital. Accompanied by more than a dozen soldiers and riot police, he suggested that people living there move to a nearby railroad embankment, then left without offering help.

Some Rohingya took down their tents and hauled their belongings away in cycle-rickshaws, or carried them in bags balanced on their heads.

"Now we're afraid. … We decided to move early this morning," said U Kwaw Swe, a 62-year-old father of seven who was hoping the government would transport his family. Otherwise they intended to walk to safety.

Ko Hla Maung, an unemployed fisherman, was among those who had not left.

"We have no safe place to move, so we're staying here, whether the storm comes or not," he said. " … The soldiers want to take us to a village closer to the sea, and we're not going to do that. … If the storm is coming, then that village will be destroyed." - Guardian.

WATCH: Cyclone Mahansen Landfall and Damage Update.

EXTREME WEATHER: The Disaster Impact - Tropical Cyclone Mahasen Capsize Boats Carrying Scores Of Rohinya Refugees In Myanmar, Up To 150 Persons Possibly Dead!

May 15, 2013 - MYANMAR - Several boats carrying as many as 150 people are believed to have capsized near the western coast of Myanmar as local residents scrambled to avoid a storm that's approaching the area, a U.N. agency said Tuesday.

The boats ferrying Rohingya, a long-suffering Muslim minority, are reported to have run into trouble on Monday night as they traveled from Pauktaw township in Myanmar's Rakhine state, said Kirsten Mildren, a spokeswoman for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Bangkok.

One of the boats was towing the others, and between them they were believed to be carrying 100 to 150 people, she said, noting that the exact number of boats and people involved is uncertain as conflicting reports from Rakhine continue to emerge.

Some people are reported to have survived and made it to dry land, according to Mildren. Hindered by heavy rain and choppy waters, rescuers have found some bodies floating near the scene of the disaster, she said.

WATCH: Tropical cyclone Mahasen heads for shore - Evacuations are under way in Bangladesh and Myanmar as tropical cyclone Mahasen heads to shore.

The boats were part of an effort to relocate people in Rakhine away from low-lying areas, according to the OCHA, ahead the potential arrival of Cyclone Mahasen, a storm that may hit parts of Myanmar and Bangladesh later this week.

A community at risk

The advocacy group Human Rights Watch has expressed concerns about the safety of tens of thousands Rohingya and other Muslims who were driven from their homes and into camps during sectarian attacks by Buddhists in Rakhine last year.

Human Rights Watch estimated that half of the roughly 140,000 displaced Muslims are now "living in flood-prone paddy fields and coastal areas that may be hit by storm surges associated with Cyclone Mahasen."

"If the government fails to evacuate those at risk, any disaster that results will not be natural, but man-made," Brad Adams, the group's Asia director, said in a statement Tuesday.

WATCH: Mahasen becomes deadly, risk of more damage.

The OCHA said Myanmar authorities had begun late Monday to carry out a plan to move 138,000 displaced people to higher ground ahead of the storm.

The boats that capsized were part of that operation, Mildren said. They were traveling from Pauktaw, where thousands of Rohingya live in camps, to other Muslim communities in the area that were to provide shelter to the passengers, she said.

Pauktaw sits on a network of waterways near the coast of Rakhine, on the Bay of Bengal.

WATCH: Western Pacific Update.

"Most of the Rohingya there in the camps are in bad conditions to begin with," Mildren said. "Their shelters are not in any way cyclone-proof and these low lying areas where they are sheltering will flood."

Cyclone Mahasen is currently expected to make landfall Thursday near Chittagong, in southeastern Bangladesh. The Bangladesh border with Rakhine is a little over 100 kilometers south of Chittagong. - CNN.

MAJOR STORM ALERT: Tropical Cyclone Mahasen Threatens Myanmar, Bangladesh - About 140,000 Rohingya Refugees Are Vulnerable; Mass Evacuations Already Taking!

May 12, 2013 - MYANMAR - A tropical cyclone heading toward Bangladesh and western Myanmar is raising fears of a potentially devastating humanitarian crisis in Myanmar's Rakhine state, where 140,000 Rohingya refugees displaced by sectarian violence are living in makeshift camps.

"Many of the camps are located in low-lying coastal areas, susceptible to tidal surge," said the United Nation's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The about 45,000 refugees living in Sittwe, Pauktaw, Myebon and Kyauktaw in Rakhine state are the "most vulnerable," it added.

The U.N. humanitarian office on Saturday detailed what they described as "the high risk and vulnerability" of people living in Myanmar's western coastal areas. It has held emergency meetings in Yangon and Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine state. A United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination team is also on standby.

The worst of the storm—currently in the Bay of Bengal—is headed toward Bangladesh, officials said. It is expected to reach land just south of Chittagong, the second largest city in Bangladesh, on Wednesday, with heavy rains and strong winds expected in Myanmar's Rakhine state, according to Myanmar authorities and United Nations agencies.

Tropical cyclones, which bring with them heavy thunderstorms, violent winds and flooding, can be vicious. Cyclone Nargis, which struck Myanmar's southern areas in 2008, destroyed entire villages and towns, killing more than 130,000 people.

Ye Htut, a spokesperson for Myanmar President Thein Sein, said in a post on his official Facebook page that local radio stations are issuing warnings to people living in Rakhine state, particularly fishermen who have been told not to go out to sea. Authorities there, he said, are putting in place early notification systems. Myanmar's Department of Meteorology and Hydrology has also warned that people in the country's northwest should move to higher ground and sheltered areas.

Bangladesh has activated a signal 3 out of 10 response, and warned fishermen not to venture out to deep waters and alerted coastal communities that they may have to evacuate in case of possible cyclonic activity, depending on the trajectory of the storm. The United Nations estimates that 60 million people could be at risk there, but this could change as the cyclone approaches.

The cyclone—locally being called Cyclone Mohasen—could veer off from its current trajectory and head deeper into western Myanmar, where aid agencies have long warned of a coming crisis when monsoon rains hit fragile shelters housing the Muslim Rohingyas, who were displaced by violent clashes with majority Buddhists last year.

The impending rains—which mark the start of Myanmar's monsoon season—underscore the urgency of the country's government to get a handle on sectarian tensions in Rakhine state. Since violence between Buddhists and ethnic minority Rohingyas broke out there last year, religious violence and deep-seated hostilities have prevented Rohingyas from returning to their homes or being resettled in other areas of the country. Tens of thousands have attempted to flee the country to neighboring Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, many drowning before they got to shore.

Rohingyas, not considered citizens of Myanmar by the country's government, are extremely restricted in their mobility, even between refugee camps. Though Myanmar's neighbors and bilateral partners have urged authorities to solve the problem there, resettlement of the minority group has remained complicated, particularly after clashes between Buddhists and Muslims spread to other regions in Myanmar this March.

The devastating 2008 cyclone affected 2.4 million, mostly in Myanmar, according to the U.N., and was considered one of the worst natural disasters in the country's history. Myanmar's then military government was widely criticized over its handling of the disaster, and accused of initially limiting foreign aid to even the worst-hit areas. - WSJ.

A Muslim Rohingya child sits outside a tent at the Bawdupha Internally Displaced Persons
(IDP) camp on the outskirts of Sittwe, the capital of Myanmar's western Rakhine state.

Myanmar on Sunday began moving people into emergency shelters as a cyclone threatened to batter a violence-wracked region home to tens of thousands of internal refugees.

About 140,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) living in flimsy tents or makeshift housing are seen as particularly vulnerable to cyclone Mahasen, which was gathering strength in the Bay of Bengal.

The cyclone is expected to make landfall somewhere near the Myanmar-Bangladesh border on Thursday morning, according to Myanmar's Department of Meteorology and Hydrology.

It said Mahasen, which was packing winds of up to about 100 kilometres (60 miles) per hour, was likely to intensify into a "severe cyclonic storm" within the next 24 hours, warning ships to be on alert.

The IDPs at particular risk are mostly stateless Rohingya Muslims uprooted by two outbreaks of deadly religious violence since June last year.

"There are people still living in temporary tents. Now we are moving as many of those IDPs as we can to the stronger permanent shelters," Myo Thant, a spokesman for the Rakhine state government, told AFP by telephone.

He said he was unsure of the capacity of the shelters -- which are located in the state capital Sittwe -- but acknowledged that there were not enough to accommodate all of the displaced people.

"The rest will be sent to stay with relatives in villages, and to nearby school buildings," he added.

Local radio issued warnings of the approaching cyclone while loudspeakers relayed messages to people in villages in Rakhine, one of Myanmar's poorest and most remote states.

The alerts revived memories of cyclone Nargis, which devastated Myanmar's Irrawaddy Delta in May 2008, killing about 140,000 people.

The UN's disaster assessment agency said preparations were under way to provide shelter for up to 13,000 displaced people in Sittwe, voicing "particular concern" for IDPs living in "poorly constructed camps."

"Many of the camps are located in low-lying coastal areas susceptible to tidal surge," it warned.

Myanmar views its population of roughly 800,000 Rohingya as illegal Bangladeshi immigrants and denies them citizenship.

New York-based Human Rights Watch last month accused Myanmar of "a campaign of ethnic cleansing" against the Rohingya, citing evidence of mass graves and forced displacement affecting tens of thousands.

Thousands of Rohingya have fled the Buddhist-Muslim violence on rickety boats, mostly believed to be heading for Malaysia. - Bangkok Post.


WATCH: Cyclone Mahasen Forecast and Analysis - May 12.

WATCH: Cyclone Mahasen already bringing Rainfall - May 13.

MONUMENTAL EARTH CHANGES: The "Bombogenesis" - Ferocious Storm Set To Explode Over The North Atlantic, Dropping Bombs Of Weather Hazards!

January 28, 2013 - NORTH ATLANTIC - Some of the most powerful storms on earth form in the North Atlantic Ocean during wintertime, spelling peril for sailors unfortunate enough to encounter them. For the past few days, the meteorologists at the Ocean Prediction Center (OPC) in College Park, Md., whose job it is to warn vessels of weather hazards, have been highlighting the likelihood of a treacherous storm event that is taking place in the open ocean, to the south of Iceland.

Satellite image of the intense North Atlantic storm, taken by the NASA MODIS imager on Saturday Jan. 26.
Credit: NASA. 

A storm that was rather inoccuous when it affected the U.S. is exploding, through a process known to meteorologists as “bombogenesis,” into a ferocious storm over the North Atlantic. The storm has intensified enough to become stronger than Hurricane Sandy was, as measured by the minimum central air pressure. That storm devastated the northern Mid-Atlantic coast in late October and the lowest pressure recorded during it was 940 mb. The current storm intensified all the way to 933 mb, if not even lower than that, based on information from the OPC on Saturday.  In a Facebook post on Friday, the OPC said the storm is expected to undergo “incredible, explosive cyclogenesis” during the next 24 hours, with the central pressure plummeting from 988 mb on Friday down to 927 mb by late Sunday. (In general, the lower the central air pressure, the stronger the storm.)  At its maximum intensity, the storm will be capable of producing winds to 90 mph, and waves of greater than 50 feet, the OPC said.  Fortunately, the storm is expected to weaken considerably before it interacts with northwestern Europe, but it could still produce strong winds in Ireland and parts of the U.K.

Computer model forecast for early Sunday of significant wave heights over the N. Atlantic. (Some waves will actually be higher than indicated here, since this shows the average of the top one-third of waves.) Credit: Facebook/Stu Ostro.

Satellite image of the storm system captured by NOAA/EUMETSAT satellite on January 26, 2013 at 13:00 UTC
(Credit: Iceland Meteorological Office/NOAA/EOEMS).

The storm comes about 10 days after a different storm underwent a similar process of rapid intensification over the North Pacific Ocean, pummeling the western Aleutian Islands of Alaska with hurricane force winds and high waves, but sparing the rest of the state from any major impacts. The North Pacific storm's minimum central pressure plunged by 48 to 49 mb in just 24 hours, making it one of the most rapidly intensifying storms at a mean latitude of 34°N since 1979, according to a data analysis by Ryan Maue of Weatherbell Analytics. As strong as the upcoming Atlantic storm is expected to get, it is not likely to set any records. The strongest extratropical storm on record in the North Atlantic occurred in 1993, when a minimum central pressure of 913 mb was recorded near Scotland’s Shetland Islands, according to Weather Underground. That was the lowest sea-level adjusted barometric pressure reading observed on the earth’s surface, with the exception of lower readings measured during tropical cyclones and tornadoes. Climate studies have shown that extratropical storms in the Northern Hemisphere are shifting their paths northward as the climate warms, and there has been a trend toward stronger Arctic storms in recent years. However, the question of whether characteristics of storms like the one this weekend are changing in response to the warming climate is unclear, given the fact that these events have a long history in the region. - Climate Central.

EXTREME WEATHER: Tropical Cyclone Freda Brings Big Swell, Stingers To Gold And Sunshine Coasts, As Inland Queensland Swelters - NASA Sees Freda Affecting New Caledonia!

January 03, 2013 - AUSTRALIA - Lifesavers are bracing for another dangerous day, with cyclone-fuelled swell and stingers threatening holidaymakers lured to southeast Queensland beaches by hot weather. Beachgoers are being warned to swim between the flags, with dozens rescued from the wild surf yesterday and dangerous seas set to continue over the next few days. On the Gold Coast, lifesavers treated hundreds of swimmers for bluebottle stings yesterday and rescued 27 people on Main Beach alone. Beaches from Miami to Southport had the most dangerous rips High winds were expected to continue bringing more stingers and strong swells today, with waves possibly reaching 2m. Southport Surf Life Saving Club patrol captain Brooke Phelps said New Year's Day was the busiest of the season. "It was absolutely chaotic down here and with more north-easterly winds predicted and big swells, we are reminding people to listen to lifeguards and stay between the flags," she said.

On Dec. 31, NASA's TRMM satellite 3-D Precipitation Radar data showed that the tops of some of the powerful storms with heavy rainfall (red) on Freda's southern side reached heights of 16 km (~9.9 miles).

Cyclone Freda Brings Big Swell, Stingers To Gold And Sunshine Coasts, As Inland Queensland Swelters.

"The bluebottles are out in force and how long they are around will depend on the wind. "The stings are quite painful if the tentacles wrap around an arm or leg. We treat the stings with ice and went through four eskies during the peak period." On the Sunshine Coast, two young swimmers had a lucky escape yesterday when a roving jet ski patrol came to their rescue after they were swept to sea at a treacherous river mouth. Two 11-year-old boys were fortunate to be saved by jet ski patrols at Maroochydore River mouth at 3pm. Sunshine Coast Surf Life Saving Queensland duty officer Sebastian de Paula said there had been several rescues outside flagged areas. "We have had about a dozen rescues on the Sunshine Coast," he said. Two other swimmers, who had been trying to swim from Caloundra to Bribie Island, were saved earlier in the day, while there were also two rescues at Noosa. Weatherzone meteorologist Ben Domensino said Tropical Cyclone Freda would bring more gloomy weather and big seas.

Lifesavers on patrol as wild seas pound the coastline at Surfers Paradise. Picture: Luke Marsden.
Source: The Courier-Mail.

"The change will come through tonight but will fortunately only last a couple of days," he said. "On Friday night the system will begin to pass, but it will be dangerous on the beach until that time." Mr Domensino said showers and storms were also on the cards for the next few days. "There is a chance of showers and storms, but any rainfall will be minimal," he said. The big seas are expected to peak at 3m tonight but holidaymakers have been warned dangerous conditions could continue for the next day or two. While the coast is expecting large swells and dangerous conditions, the south of the state is set to swelter, with temperatures 6C to 7C above average today. Weather bureau senior forecaster Jonty Hall said Brisbane should expect a top of 34C in the city, while Ipswich will reach a high of 37C. At the beach temperatures will be cooler, with temperatures at the Gold and Sunshine Coasts in the early 30s. "If you're inland from the coast at all temperatures are likely to be warmer than that," Mr Hall said. Temperatures in the southwest of the state will hover about 40C. - Courier Mail.

NASA Sees A Struggling Post-Tropical Storm Freda Affecting New Caledonia.

Tropical Storm Freda may no longer be a tropical storm, but as a low pressure area it is bringing rainfall and gusty winds to New Caledonia. Two NASA satellites captured two different looks at the storm. Wind shear has punched Freda down to tropical storm status on Jan. 1 and weakened it to a remnant low pressure area on Jan. 2. NASA's Aqua satellite showed strong thunderstorms were over New Caledonia early on Jan. 2, while NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite peered under the hood of Freda's clouds and measured some moderate to heavy rainfall the day before. On Jan. 2 Eastern Daylight Time (Jan. 3 local time New Caledonia) Freda had lost its tropical characteristics and became a remnant low pressure area. Freda's remnants were north-northwest of New Caledonia and moving southeastward over the island. New Caledonia is under a yellow alert. Freda went from a powerful cyclone to a remnant low pressure area over three days time, and NASA satellites recorded the decline. On Dec. 31, TRMM's 3-D Precipitation Radar data showed that the tops of some of the powerful storms on Freda's southern side reached heights of 16 km (~9.9 miles). Intense rainfall in these storms returned a reflectivity value of greater than 59 dBZ to TRMM's Precipitation Radar instrument. To see a video of the TRMM satellite flyby, go to: http://trmm.gsfc.nasa.gov/trmm_rain/Events/freda_31_december_2012_0907_utc_flyby.mpg

The AIRS instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite captured this infrared image of Tropical Cyclone Freda over New Caledonia on Jan. 2, 2013 at 0211 UTC. The purple areas indicate the coldest, highest clouds with heaviest rainfall covering most of the island.

On Jan. 1, 2013 at 1500 UTC (10 a.m. EST) Cyclone Freda's maximum sustained winds fell below cyclone strength near 45 knots (51.7 mph/83.3 kph). On that day, forecasters at the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) noted that "animated infrared satellite imagery, corroborated by a SSMI-S microwave pass, shows the main convection sheared and eroded southeastward of the low level circulation center." That's because Freda had moved into an area where the vertical wind shear is moderate to strong, blowing between 20 and 30 knots (23 and 34.5 mph /37 and 55.5 kph). By Jan. 1 at 1549 UTC (10:49 a.m. EST), Freda's clouds overspread New Caledonia and light rain was falling in Noumeau. On Jan. 2, showers and thunderstorms covered most of the island and winds increased. On Jan. 2, 2013 at 0211 UTC (Jan. 1 at 9:11 p.m. EST), the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument that flies aboard NASA's Aqua satellite captured an infrared image of Tropical Cyclone Freda. The AIRS image showed that eastern side Freda's clouds covered most of New Caledonia, and infrared data indicated that the coldest, highest clouds with heaviest rainfall covered most of the island. By 1651 UTC (11:51 a.m. EST/3:55 a.m. New Caledonia Time, Jan. 3) Freda had moved further west and New Caledonia was covered by clouds in the storm's eastern quadrant. Freda's low pressure center was located near La Foa, New Caledonia, approximately 21.0 south latitude and 165.7 east longitude. The forecast for Noumea (located in southern New Caledonia) for Thursday, Jan. 3 calls for rain with a warm high temperature of 88 Fahrenheit (31.1 Celsius). Sustained winds are expected to blow from the south up to 21 knots (25 mph/40 kph) and are expected to continue at that speed overnight before weakening the next day. By Friday, Jan. 4, the winds are expected to wane over New Caledonia as Freda moves away in an easterly direction. The JTWC noted that "there is a possibility the system could regenerate over the next few days." - Eurek Alert.

FUK-U-SHIMA: Pandora's Box at Japan's Nuclear Dead Zone - Radiation Level in Sub-Drain of Reactor 2 Increased Ten Times After Passage of Typhoon Guchol!

As we have documented here, Typhoon Guchol pushed across Japan this week, dumping heavy rains and gusty winds in areas such as Tokyo, Shikoku and the Kii Peninsula.

The TRMM satellite passed above weakening typhoon Guchol on June 18, 2012 at 2322 UTC (7:33 pm EDT/US) as
it moved toward Japan's main island of Honshu. The yellow, green and blue areas indicate light-to-moderate rainfall
between 20 and 40 millimeters (.78 to 1.57 inches) per hour. Red areas are considered heavy rainfall at 2 inches/50 mm
per hour and there was none evident in the image. Credit: Credit: NASA/SSAI, Hal Pierce

The first tropical storm of the season to make landfall in Japan was a soaker, and the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite captured its large area of rainfall as it moved over the big island. The TRMM satellite passed above weakening typhoon Guchol on June 18, 2012 at 2322 UTC (7:33 p.m. EDT) as it moved toward Japan's main island of Honshu. A precipitation analysis from TRMM's Microwave Imager (TMI) and Precipitation Radar (PR) instruments showed that the Japanese islands of Kyushu and Shikoku were getting rainfall from Guchol at the time of that orbit. Guchol was shown by TRMM to be enhancing rainfall in parts of Japan over 500 km (~310.7 miles) from the typhoon's center. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center issued their final bulletin on Guchol on June 19 at 1500 UTC (11 a.m. EDT). At that time, maximum sustained winds were down to 35 knots (40 mph/64 kph). It was located about 110 miles (177 km) west of Yokosuka, Japan, near 35.3 North and 137.5 East and speeding to the northeast at 37 knots (42.5 mph/68.5 kph)!Guchol re-emerged over the Pacific Ocean as a fully extra-tropical cyclone and will continue to weaken at sea. - PHYSORG.

The typhoon was projected to pass relatively close to the Fukushima nuclear power plant with sustained winds of about 100 mph. The Japanese government had declared that the reactors posed no significant additional risk. However, Robert Alvarez, the former Senior Policy Adviser to the Secretary and Deputy Assistant Secretary for National Security and the Environment at the U.S. Department of Energy, cast a dangerous warning about the potential impact on Fukushima from any further deterioration.

The No. 4 pool is about 100 feet above ground, is structurally damaged and is exposed to the open elements. If an earthquake or other event were to cause this pool to drain this could result in a catastrophic radiological fire involving nearly 10 times the amount of Cs-137 released by the Chernobyl accident. - University of California, Berkeley.

Yesterday, Iori Mochizuki of the Fukushima Diary website, indicates that after the passage of the typhoon, cesium level in sub-drain of reactor2 was increased 10 times higher than usual and that TEPCO comments rain washed radiation to flow into the sub-drain.

Source 1 2 3

MAJOR STORM ALERT: 150mph Syper Typhoon Guchol Targets Japan - Highest Category Storm Intensifies as it Tracks Near the Fukushima Nuclear Radiation Zone! UPDATE: Guchol Lands on Mainland Japan! UPDATE: Typhoon Weakens After Hitting Japan - 1 Killed and 1 Missing!

Guchol, a tropical cyclone in the western Pacific, is maintaining Super Typhoon status, and has its sight set on Japan. Winds currently exceed 150 mph, with even higher gusts, making Guchol a super typhoon, the highest classification for tropical cyclones in the western Pacific. 

If Guchol were an Atlantic Hurricane, it would be considered a strong Category 4 storm.  While Guchol is currently bringing minimal impacts to civilization in its current location in the Philippine Sea, this is likely to change as Guchol continues to head north over the next few days.  Not only will Guchol continue to head towards more populated islands, but the storm is also expected to intensify further, or at the very least maintain it intensity over the next 24 hours.  Conditions for Guchol have been favorable over the past 24 hours, with low wind shear and warm ocean waters feeding the storm. These conditions should remain favorable until the system moves farther north, where the storm will eventually begin to deteriorate.

Guchol will still likely be a very powerful tropical cyclone upon reaching the Ryukyu Islands of Japan on Monday night. Powerful winds, torrential rain and intense surf will be among some of the problems expected for the islands.  Farther north, Guchol has to possibility of making landfall along the east coast of Japan before it recurves. Even if Guchol makes landfall, it should have weakened some while in the vicinity of the Ryukyu Islands, and the storngest winds usually occur on the right side of the storm track, meaning only places in and southeast of the eye would see the storms strongest winds.  Instead, the main threat the storm poses to the main island of Japan will be its torrential rains. Heavy rain could lead to mudslides and flash flooding, especially in the mountains just west of Tokyo.  Stay tuned to the AccuWeather.com Tropical Weather Center for the latest information on this potent storm. - Accu Weather.

UPDATE: Powerful Typhoon Guchol Could Land by Wednesday.

A powerful typhoon was moving toward the archipelago Monday with sustained strength and could make landfall by Wednesday, the Meteorological Agency said.  The agency warned of thunderstorms, strong winds and high waves in southwestern and western Japan as Typhoon Guchol, the fourth of the year, was around 450 km south of Naha, Okinawa, at 9 a.m. Monday and moving northward at about 25 kph.  The typhoon was expected to approach Okinawa and threaten Shikoku Tuesday night. It could land in areas ranging from western to eastern Japan by Wednesday, the agency said.  With an atmospheric pressure of 950 hectopascals at its core, the typhoon was packing winds of up to around 160 kph near its center and 90 kph or more in areas within a 150-km radius, likely bringing strong winds to southwestern, western and central Japan on Tuesday. - Japan Times.

WATCH: Typhoon Guchol blow past Okinawa, next on to mainland Japan.

UPDATE: Guchol Pushes on Shore Across Western Japan - First Video!

Typhoon Guchol is pushing on shore across Western Japan today. Already short time heavy rain topping 50mm an hour has been reported in some areas of Shikoku and the Kii Pennisula. Expect this to continue to increase througout the day today. Meanwhile Tokyo will be expecting heavy rainfall and gusty winds through the overnight hours as Guchol Pushes just west of the Metro area. The main threat here will be travel concerns in relation to Train Delays and low lying urban flooding. - Western Pacific Weather.

WATCH: Typhoon Guchol makes landfall in Japan.

WATCH: Latest video footage from Japan and track forecast.

UPDATE: Typhoon Weakens After Hitting Japan - 1 Killed and 1 Missing!

Weakening Typhoon Guchol passed from Japan into the Pacific on Wednesday, leaving one person dead and one missing and bringing heavy rainfall and strong gusts to many areas mainly in eastern and northeastern regions, including Tokyo, authorities said.  Hourly rainfall reached record highs for June early Wednesday in locations such as Kitaibaraki, Ibaraki Prefecture, northeast of Tokyo, at 56.0 millimeters, while wind speeds also broke records for the month in cities including Chiba at 137.2 kilometers per hour, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.  The typhoon moved off the Pacific coastline of northeast Japan Wednesday morning, the agency said, adding that another typhoon, called Talim, is moving eastward toward Japan over the South China Sea.  In Numazu, Shizuoka Prefecture, southwest of Tokyo, Kentaro Yamamoto, 53, was killed under a prefabricated building that collapsed due to the strong winds, police said.  A 16-year-old girl went missing in Nirasaki, Yamanashi Prefecture, west of Tokyo, around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday near a swollen river. - Mainichi.