Pacific Typhoons Chan-Hom, Linfa, Nangka... Headed Where?

Where will the three West Pacific Ocean typhoons, Chan-hom, Linfa and Nangka go? Opinions differ. But Taiwan and Fujian province of China seem to be in for rough weather.

Satellite image taken at 0900 GMT, July 6, 2015, showing typhoons Chan-hom, Nangka and Linfa

The ocean is over active now, hurtling tropical cyclones and storms by the fistfuls. Let us discuss the forecasts for each of these...

TYPHOON CHAN-HOM

It has moved past Guam Island and if the JTWC is to be believed, it is headed for a super typhoon status soon in a couple of days, that is by July 9, 2015. It is expected to move past Okinawa by Friday morning, a few hundred kilometers away. But since Chan-hom will be so powerful then, expect very stormy weather at Kadena.

After that what? Forecasts differ. The JTWC says it will go onto hit Shanghai head on July 11, 2015. We think it will make landfall into Fujian province in China  just south of Fuzhou. It will weaken before impact on July 11. But it is going to kiss the northern part of Taiwan before that on July 10. Taipei and Chilung will be hit by winds of 250 km/h.

TYPHOON LINFA

Tropical cyclone Linfa is smaller in comparison. It has just passed northern Philippines and is going to intensify as it heads north towards the south-western coast of Taiwan. It will have winds of 60-70 km/h when it kisses the country's coast at Kaohsiung and Tainan on July 10, 2015. It will weaken into a low and head to Fujian in China after that.

TYPHOON NANGKA

This one is in the league of Chan-hom. A possible super typhoon. Luckily it is not going to head to heavily populated land masses. But it is going to move perilously close to the Japanese island of Iwo Jima on July 14, 2015. It is possible it may hit it directly. Predictions differ on the track of Nangka. 

The first possibility is it will kiss Iwo Jima and swing away from the east coast of Japan harmlessly. Another option is it will swing westwards and move right through the southern Japanese islands of Oshima and Okinawa. A dangerous possibility.