Category 5 Super Typhoon in one of the most explosive intensification rates on record, heading toward Tokyo

Tropical Storm "Hagibis" formed on October 5, 2019, and underwent one of the most explosive intensification rates on record. Hagibis exploded from a tropical storm with winds of 96 km/h (60 mph) to a Category 5 super typhoon with winds of 257 km/h (160 mph) in just 18 hours as its center went close to the Northern Mariana Island of Anatahan, about 322 km (200 miles) northeast of Guam.

Hagibis is now the strongest typhoon in the West Pacific Ocean this year. The current forecast track takes it near or over Tokyo, Japan on October 12, still strong enough to cause structural damage.

According to Phil Klotzbach, a meteorologist at Colorado State University, the storm underwent the strongest quick intensification of any tropical cyclone from the western Pacific in at least 23 years
[link to watchers.news (secure)]