I’m safely back home in Tokyo after a wild chase and eye intercept of typhoon Podul in Taiwan. I want to say a big thank you to all of you who tuned in and joined in the chat. Also a special shout out and thank you to everyone who signed up to become a channel member or left a super chat - your support is much appreciated! It likely won’t be too long before I’m on the road again and firing up the stream. Cheers - James
123 - 7
Kicking of 2025 chase season, on the “typhoon express” Haneda to Taipei Songshan flight (I’ve taken this 4 times in the last 12 months.) I’ll be meeting Mark and hitting the ground running. Multi day live streaming of our coverage of typhoon Podul as it approaches and impacts Taiwan.
118 - 3
Tropical Depression Crising has "trouble maker" written all over it, not due to strong winds but its slow track and potential for causing flooding in the Philippines and then China. JMA expects it to become tropical storm Wipha as it nears northern Luzon tomorrow before it gradually strengthens in the W Philippines Sea. The intensity forecast is tough, with mixed messages in the forecasts. JMA expect a peak of 55kts whereas Hong Kong Observatory are forecasting a peak or between 75-80kts south of HK. It's a large, sprawling system and that's keeping its development at a slow pace right now.
If you're in a flood prone part of the Philippines please keep an eye on local warnings and friends in Hong Kong and S China brace yourselves for some wet and windy conditions early next week. I won't be chasing this since I'll be on the island of Hachijo-jima this weekend chilling with my family.
Stay safe everyone!
41 - 7
July 1st - what I refer to as the real start to typhoon season. Despite running all year long, 95%+ of all my chases take place between now and the end of the year. Right on cue, the sea temperatures across the Western Pacific are like a bath tub, with alarmingly high anomalies, especially off the south coast of Japan. And the models are starting to come alive, with Invest 98W off the east coast of Luzon looking increasingly likely it could become a typhoon as it heads north into the Pacific. I hope all of you who live along the tropical shorelines of the Pacific are ready, because I certainly am!
34 - 2
I’m traveling in Europe right now hence lack of updates but hurricane Erick is about to smash into the Pacific coast of Mexico as a 140mph category 4 hurricane. My buddy @iCyclone is on the ground chasing this so make sure to check his socials for updates inside the core of this powerful storm!
33 - 5
Typhoon season is about to kick off, finally. It's been a late start this year. This mass of clouds in the West Philippines Sea is expected to become a tropical storm Wutip in the next 24hrs according to the JMA. The Hong Kong Observatory is keeping a close eye on it too and expect Standby Signal No. 1 to be issued soon. It should remain below typhoon intensity but will bring rough weather to Hainan, southern China as well as Macau and Hong Kong over the next few days. I'm travelling this week so won't be able to run any live streams for this system but rest assured, once I'm back on the 20th June I'll be ready to work whichever storms are spinning around out there!
Images via JMA and CyclonicWx.com
30 - 1
We've had a few false alarms this year, but it finally looks like the first named storm of the west Pacific typhoon season is in its infancy. The models are picking up on this disturbance east of the Philippines. The GFS is VERY aggressive but I'm not buying it - the model is notoriously excitable. That being said the ECM ensembles are lit up and other models are developing this system into at least a tropical storm. I'll be keeping an eye on it.
49 - 2
Ten years ago, somewhere in northern Luzon - Mark and I hunting super typhoon Noul, known as Dodong in the Philippines.
43 - 4
It's looking increasingly likely the western Pacific's first named storm of the year could be forming next week. As usual the GFS is pretty aggressive hinting at a strong tropical storm or typhoon near the Philippines. The Euro operational runs show nothing, but looking under the hood, the ensembles are lit up with storm tracks, which suggests it's picking up on this feature. I've included both below. I'll be gearing up a 24/7 live stream soon monitoring this feature so folks can get the latest information, hang out in the chat with fellow tropical nerds or post any questions.
Images via WeatherModels.com and TropicalTidbits.com
41 - 4
Taking you inside the world's fiercest storms via our live streams and long form videos.