Isaac Rainfall Totals Already Passing Katrina in NOLA

Katrina moved so fast it never dumped a lot of rain in NOLA proper, but Isaac is very different, and the eyewall is just creeping past the city, and dumping very heavy rain.  Totals are already passing Katrina, and hard for the pumps to keep up with it. -HLG

Typhoon Tembin's Second Pass over Taiwan

This amazing radar composite is the SECOND time this same typhoon, Tembin passed over the southern tip of Taiwan.  It crossed last week moving NE to SW, and now crossed this week SW to NE! - HLG

Twin Typhoons Tembin and Bolaven, both heading to Korea

As seen by MODIS on the 27th of Aug, 2012. -HLG

Bolaven Strongest Typhoon to Hit Okinawa in over 50 years.

Massive Typhoon Bolaven slams Okinawa, heads for Koreas

By the CNN Wire Staff

August 26, 2012 -- Updated 2105 GMT (0505 HKT)

Typhoon Bolaven is expected to make landfall near Okinawa on Sunday.

Tokyo (CNN) -- A massive typhoon crossed over Okinawa on Sunday, bringing winds more ferocious than even the typhoon-weary Japanese island has seen in decades.

Typhoon Bolaven, with wind gusts that reached as high as 259 kilometers per hour (161 mph), is the strongest to strike the region in nearly 50 years. And with a cloud field of 2,000 kilometers (1,250 miles), it is 20 times larger than Okinawa's length.

"It's been very, very severe," said storm chaser James Reynolds, who was on the northwestern coast of the island during the worst of the storm. Tree branches were flying through the air amid torrential rain, he said.

Speaking to CNN early Monday morning on Okinawa, Reynolds said, "It's been a long and rough night."

"The eye of the typhoon actually crashed ashore just after dark. ... Like the rest of the population we all just kind of holed up in the strong and sturdy buildings which make up Okinawa," he said.

The infrastructure on Okinawa is designed to withstand violent storms. "Everything's made of solid concrete," said Reynolds.

The last storm of this scale was Typhoon Naha in 1956.

At 3 a.m. Monday local time (2 p.m. ET Sunday), Bolaven had winds of 194 kilometers per hour, with gusts at 240 kilometers per hour, CNN International meteorologist Jennifer Delgado reported.

Bolaven could make landfall at the Korean peninsula on Tuesday morning, or potentially in South Korea on Monday night, Delgado said.

In the meantime, rainfall totals in Okinawa could top 500 mm (20 inches) in 24 hours, said CNN International meteorologist Tom Sater.

Bolaven is "roughly the size of France to Poland in land mass," said Sater.

Storm surges were expected to be a major problem for Okinawa. More than 400,000 people in the area live at elevations less than 50 meters (164 feet).

"The large battering waves on both sides of Okinawa are going to be a threat to people living near the water," Reynolds predicted. "But I think the worst has passed now. The storm is moving away and unfortunately it's the people in the Korean peninsula who look like they've got to prepare for the incoming storm."

Taiwan, meanwhile, could be in for a pounding due to something called the Fujiwhara effect.

Typhoon Tembin made landfall in southern Taiwan a few days ago, and was expected to work its way toward Hong Kong. But Bolaven, which is much stronger, has stopped Tembin's movement toward Hong Kong and has been spinning it around. Tembin is likely to make a second landfall in southern Taiwan, also on Tuesday morning.

"As Typhoon Bolaven moves northward towards the Yellow Sea, it will drag Tembin toward the China coast very near Shanghai," said Sater. "That's an amazing change in direction."

Typhoons Tembin and Bolaven August 26, 2012

Tembin passed over the southern tip of Taiwan, and is forecast to raze the east coast of the island on a return pass, before heading into the Yellow Sea.  Meanwhile Bolaven is aiming directly for Okinawa as a major typhoon today, then curving up towards the North/South border of the Koreas. - HLG

Double Eyewall of Typhoon Bolaven

The Okinawa radar shows a distinct double, if not triple eyewall of Major Typhoon Bolaven, as it heads directly for the island province. - HLG

ECMWF Forecast for the 29th, the anniversary of Katrina!

Official JTWC Forecast for Typhoon Tembin!

Major Typhoons Tembin and Bolaven in same MODIS Image

Amazing how these two typhoons have stayed just far enough apart the Tembin was able to clock up to 120 kts, and Bolaven is so large, but assymetric still, it's development continues to major typhoon status.  Okinawa will get a direct hit from Bolaven, then somewhere in western Korea.  Meanwhile Tembin will stall just south of Taiwan for days!.  - HLG

Beware the "EYE" Storm! Major Hurricane for Northern Gulf Coast Next Week?

All the models are picking up on this storm strengthening rapidly over the Gulf this weekend, and although GFS (shown) has the storm heading to FL Panhandle, the ECMWF has a major hurricane, heading from the SE to NW, going right over NOLA.  Stay tuned on this one!  -HLG

Forget the Republican Plan for the Distant Future

What is the plan for "Isaac" crashing the convention in Tampa next week?  Which will produce more hot air, Chris Christie, or Hurricane Isaac???

Last week's model was a bust. Not drought buster for Central US from Ernesto 2012

Look out GOMEXians!

Ernesto looks like it will be a major hurricane in the Gulf next week.  Batten down the hatches, or at least stock up on bottled water! - HLG

"Virtual Fujiwara" Heading towards Shanghai Region

These two typhoons have been up and down in the models, with which one will become dominant.  They are definitely feeling each other, now forecast to be very similar intensities when one goes in north side of Shanghai, and the other on the south-side, just a day apart.  The southern storm is larger area, but just an amazing site in the Pacific. - HLG