Typhoon Malakas Beginning To Lose Some Steam... (credit: University of Wisconsin-Madison CIMSS)

DISCUSSION: As Typhoon Malakas continues to gradually lose strength over the cooler waters just north of Taiwan, the impacts across Central/North Taiwan as well as far southern Japan (i.e., the smaller individual islands located to the south of the primary island of Japan) will gradually abate over the next 12 to 24 hours.  At this point in time, Malakas remains to be a dangerous tropical cyclone across the far Western Pacific Ocean with maximum sustained winds still holding at 115 MPH (with occasional gusts up to 145 MPH) making it the equivalent of a Category 3 hurricane (as recognized in the Tropical Central/Eastern Pacific Ocean as well as the Tropical Atlantic Ocean basins).  Thus, despite the current weakening trend, there are still legitimate threats to much of Japan as this strong tropical cyclone continues moving to the north and northeast over the next few days!

As a result of this continued threat from Typhoon Malakas, it is in the best interest of people currently residing across both southern and central parts of Japan to make the necessary preparations for this approaching storm.  Based on recent infrared satellite imagery trends associated with the circulation of Malakas, there is evidence for re-cooling and an increasingly symmetrical appearance of cloud top temperatures associated with thunderstorms near the center of Malakas.  This operationally suggests that Typhoon Malakas may be briefly trying to go through a final cycle of intensification as it continues northward.  Despite this continued threat, Malakas spared Taiwan from devastating impacts (albeit widely scattered occurrences of both landslides and mudslides across the island nation of Taiwan) since it ended up tracking just to the east of Taiwan.  Nonetheless, even without a direct hit, the combination of gusty winds and heavy rainfall (courtesy of outer bands propagating across Taiwain) generated notable impacts.  Hence, as it continues moving to higher latitudes, people should absolutely remain vigilant since even a weakening tropical cyclone is still a viable threat to both life and property.

To learn more about other high-impact weather events across the Western Pacific Ocean, be sure to click here!

@Meteorologist Jordan Rabinowitz