First Typhoon 2019 approaching – WUTIP moving west

First Typhoon 2019 approaching

• The animated version of the title picture is here.
• Good News: First Typhoon – WUTIP will not come over the Philippines.
• Bad News: The typhoon might disturb the airflow over the northwestern Pacific and attract the cold-front over mainland China.

The Analysis / Forecast

A low pressure area formed just south of the Marshall Islands on February 16. It then began to gradually organise while moving westward just south of Federated States of Micronesia. It was upgraded to a tropical depression by the JMA on February 18, with the JTWC following suit the following day.

Today at 2:00 PM Philippines time, Tropical Storm WUTIP was located near 4.9°N 153.9°E. Maximum 10-minute sustained winds were at 45 knots (85 km/h; 50 mph), while maximum 1-minute sustained winds were at 45 knots (85 km/h; 50 mph), with gusts to 60 knots (110 km/h; 70 mph). The minimum central barometric pressure is 994 hPa, and the system is moving westward at 8 knots (15 km/h; 9 mph).

Just now at 06:00 PM the Japanese Meteorological Agency has upgraded WUTIP to Severe Tropical Storm.

The next few days

Now First Typhoon 2019 WUTIP will quickly get stronger. JMA predicts a typhoon of category 3 within 2 days. The forecasts of all agencies are similar.

We’ll inform you if something should change. Otherwise you can follow WUTIP on our weather pages.