As of 11:30pm on Thursday September 13th in Japan, a storm system that goes by the name of Sanba was upgraded to super-typhoon status by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC).
A super-typhoon, the equivalent of a Category 5 hurricane, is a storm with maximum sustained winds of 150 miles per hour or higher. Currently Sanba is packing up to 190 mile per hour winds at its center. It is forecast to peak at 161 miles per hour sustained winds with 198 mile per hour gusts.
As of the last advisory from the JTWC, the super-typhoon was moving over the Southern Phillipines Sea, located to the north and east of the Phillipines. The storm's current environment is said to be favorable for maintaining and possibly strengthening the level of the storm.
By Saturday evening, forecasters say that Sanba's projected path will bring it very close to Okinawa, Japan. Although this storm is a monster, Accuweather reports that Okinawa is well-prepared for typhoons as the area has survived a number of previous typhoon hits. However, people in the area should expect damage to buildings, homes and trees as well as power outages and widespread flooding.
As Sanba continues barreling on through the weekend, moisture from the storm will interact with a front that is stalled across South Korea. Several inches of rain are expected in the area before the storm reaches Jeju Island in Korea on Monday, and moves on toward the southern mainland of Korea by Monday night. In the mountains of South Korea, it is expected that up to 1-2 feet of rain may fall.
"The worst-case scenario is a widespread flooding disaster," Jim Andrews, expert senior meteorologist at Accuweather said.
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