William has already posted about the typhoon that is approaching but I’d like to chime in too. The image you see is the prediction for 96 hours (4 days) from today. That would be Tuesday night. The good news is that the predicted route seems to be far enough south that Kumamoto would not get the worst of if (though that is bad news for Kagoshima). On the other hand, the bad news is that the prediction is for a VERY significant storm – a category 3 – when it is closest to us. Hurricane Katrina, which devastated New Orleans in 2005, was a category 3 storm when it made landfall. (It had been a category 5 but, at the time of landfall, it had weakened to a 3.) So, a category 3 storm would be significant. I’m hoping that it turns out to be milder than expected and that it misses Kyushu entirely but I think it’s wise to be aware that this storm system may turn out to be very dangerous. More to come . . .
– Kirk