HAGUPIT/Ruby – slowed down and weakened

storm night

Typhoon HAGUPIT/Ruby has slowed down its forward speed from 30 km/h to only 15 km/h. The typhoon also weakened a bit and is now a Typhoon Category 4. This change is due to the constantly weakening High Pressure Areas (HPA) over continental China.

The weakening is more than welcome. Central pressure increased to 925 hPa this afternoon around 3 p.m. Slowing down the forward speed gives evacuation teams a bit more time. But on the other hand the typhoon will remain a longer time in the same place and bring much higher quantities of torrential rainfall.

Tourists Warning

The airlines have already begun to cancel flights. If you have a flight booked until next Tuesday or Wednesday, get in contact with your airline. Philippine Airlines has already cancelled 26 flights. Cebu Pacific Air is at 48 flights. No news from AirAsia/Zest.

The Multi-Agency Tracks

The Multi-Agency Tracks

The US Navy (JTWC) in violet is still most northern and removes the immediate danger from Samar.
All other agencies still predict a landfall in Samar. Hong-Kong (red) is the southernmost track.
Panay also seems to escape the worst impact, instead the typhoon will hit Masbate and then Mindoro.

JMA Typhoon track forecast

Weather 2014-12-05 JMA track

JMA has corrected the strict western track into a slightly west-northwest direction. They still predict a faster forward movement than JTWC.

Isobars – pressure map

Weather 2014-12-05 Isobars

The red circles show the weakening High Pressure Areas over continental China. They are responsible for the more northern track of Typhoon HAGUPIT/Ruby (yellow).

Typhoon HAGUPIT/Ruby Storm data
(update 8:00 p.m.)

Name (INTL. / local): HAGUPIT/Ruby
Class: Typhoon Cat.4
Time/Date of observation: 08:00 PM on December 5, 2014
Location of Center: 12.0º North 128.7º East
Moving Direction and Speed: West @ 10 km/h
Moving towards: Norther Samar / Sorsogon
Distance from the Philippines: 345 km ENE of Guiuan, Samar
Estimated Date / Time of Landfall: Late Saturday, Early Sunday
Max. Wind Speed near Center: 185 km/h
Peak Wind Gusts: 260 km/h
Minimum Central Pressure: 929 hPa
Diameter: 975 km
24h Rainfall near Center: 150 – 500 mm
Max. Wave Height: 8 – 12 m
Here you find how to read and understand this data

Next update tomorrow morning.

Almost real-time storm information

[GARD]

Related posts

Share if you like

You may also like...

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

Enter Captcha Here : *

Reload Image

error: Content is protected !!