Most Powerful Storm of the Year Holds Onto Title as It Heads for Japan

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After intensifying into one of the most intense tropical cyclones on record, Super Typhoon Vongfong is maintaining its extraordinary Category 5 intensity on Wednesday as it moves westward over the open waters of the West Pacific. The storm is expected to start turning sharply to the north late on Wednesday or Wednesday night, U.S. time, putting the storm on course to make landfall or come very close to storm weary Japan.

As of Wednesday morning, Super Typhoon Vongfong was not quite as intense as it was on Tuesday, when its maximum sustained winds hit a whopping 180 miles per hour. Still, it is a beast, with maximum sustained winds of 165 miles per hour. Some fluctuations in strength are possible on Wednesday, but forecasters at the U.S. military's Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) expect it to remain a super typhoon, with winds of greater than 150 miles per hour, for the next 36 hours Read more...

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