Typhoon Soudelor Analysis – August 7, 2015

Typhoon Soudelor is located to the east of the island of Taiwan, and is moving to the west-northwest. Souldelor peaked several days ago with maximum sustained winds of 180 mph on Monday, but weakend to 105 mph on Thursday morning. The typhoon has been regaining some of its strength back early this morning.

Baron Satellite-Derived Reflectivity from last night shows an impressive eye, with strong convective banding circulating around it. The diameter of the eye has been shrinking, indicating the storm is intensifying.

The GFS model is forecasting the storm to continue on its west-northwest path, intensifying and making landfall Friday night (US time) in the center of the island. This rain rate image shows that the island will endure intense flooding rains that will likely cause flash flooding, given Taiwan’s mountainous terrain.

The GFS wind and pressure field shows the intense winds that will batter the eastern section of the island. Winds will be most intense on the east side of Taiwan as they interact with the mountains across the center of the island