Super Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda – another overhyped storm that didn’t match early reports

 

  Super Typhoon Haiyan — which is one of the strongest storms in world history based on maximum windspeed — is about to plow through the Central Philippines, producing a potentially deadly storm surge and dumping heavy rainfall that could cause widespread flooding. As of Thursday afternoon Eastern time, Haiyan, known in the Philippines as Super Typhoon Yolanda, had estimated maximum sustained winds of 195 mph with gusts above 220 mph, which puts the storm in extraordinarily rare territory.

Ah those estimates, they sure don’t always meet up with reality later – Anthony

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/07/super-typhoon-haiyan-philippines_n_4235250.html


Unfortunately we cannot always trust the BBC to give the facts these days, so let’s see what the Philippine Met Agency, PAGASA, have to say. Here are the surface wind reports:






http://www.pagasa.dost.gov.ph/wb/tcarchive_files.html

 http://www.pagasa.dost.gov.ph/wb/wbfcst.html
So at landfall the sustained wind was 235 kmh or 147 mph, with gusts upto 275 kmh or 171 mph. This is 60 mph less than the BBC have quoted.
The maximum strength reached by the typhoon appears to have been around landfall, as the reported windspeeds three hours earlier were 225 kmh (140mph).
Terrible though this storm was, it only ranks as a Category 4 storm, and it is clear nonsense to suggest that it is “one of the most powerful storms on record to make landfall “


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saffir%E2%80%93Simpson_Hurricane_Scale


Given the geography of the Pacific, most typhoons stay out at sea, or only hit land once they have weakened. But in total terms, the busiest typhoon season in recent decades was 1964, whilst the following year logged the highest number of super typhoons (which equate to Cat 3 +). Of the eleven super typhoons that year, eight were Category 5’s.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typhoon
So far this year, before Yolanda there have been just three Category 5’s, none of which hit land at that strength.
Personally I don’t like to comment on events such as these until long after the dust has settled. Unfortunately though, somebody has to set the record if we cannot rely on the BBC and others to get the basic facts right.

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/11/09/supe-typhoon-haiyanyolanda-another-overhyped-storm-that-didnt-match-early-reports/

#TyphoonHaiyan  #GlobalWarmingAlarmism #NCDC #ClimateDepot #ImpeachObama #ClimateGateII #ClimateChangeHoax #IPCC #ScienceSaysNo #ScienceSaysSo #HeartlandInstitute #ISCS #NSID #ClimateCounterConsensus #GlobalCooling #AGWHoax #CO2IsNotAPollutant #AntarcticIceCap #ArcticIceCap #ChasingIce #TheGreatGlobalWarmingSwindle