Supertyphoon Muifa is one to watch. Yesterday, it was a tropical storm with winds of 55 knots (65 mph), but tonight I could hardly believe my eyes when I read warning #23 from the Joint Typhoon Warning Center. It quoted the maximum sustained windspeeds at 140 knots (160 mph), gusting to 170 knots (200 mph) near the centre. This equates to a category V hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale. Muifa is more than 600 miles from land, but its trajectory looks set to take it straight into Okinawa, south of Japan - with sustained winds of 120 knots (135 mph) on August 4th. The satellite image does not show it, but galeforce winds extend for 130 to 160 miles from Muifa's centre, with hurricane force winds as much as 60 miles from the centre. Image courtesy NOAA.
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