Cyclone PABUK Chasing Typhoon USAGI

Powerful winds, heavy rain buffeting N Philippines and Taiwan as TY USAGI passes through Luzon Strait

Authorities in the Philippines and Taiwan have evacuated scores of town and villages, deployed thousands of troops, cancelled flights and suspended ferry services as the powerful typhoon continued tracking toward China.

USAGI was packing sustained winds of 230 km/h, with gusts of up to 275 km/h, or the equivalent of a Cat 4B hurricane, as of Saturday afternoon local time.

Tropical Cyclone PABUK Chasing Typhoon USAGI. MTSAT IR Satellite Image. Image recorded at 07:00UTC on September 21, 2013. Source: CIMSS/SSEC/WISC. FIRE-EARTH Enhancement.

Tropical Storm PABUK Forms

Meantime, various meteorological agencies in the region issued a new tropical storm alert as TS PABUK formed.

As of 07:20 UTC on  21 September 2013 Tropical storm BABUK was located near N19.6°, E145.2°.

FIRE-EARTH believes yet a third cyclone could form in the region, following PABUK, within the next 48 hours.

Related Links

• FEWW New Hurricane Scale September 3, 2008
• Satellite Imagery
• Typhoon USAGI Eying Taiwan September 19, 2013
• USAGI Intensifies to Super Typhoon Force  September 20, 2013