typhoonfury.com

typhoonfury.com

Image courtesy of NOAA - http://www.osei.noaa.gov

The video below is a compilation of footage from the super typhoon Krosa intercept expedition.

The intercept of typhoon Krosa, like most storm chasing expeditions, was fraught with challenges, especially so for my good friend and chase companion Geoff Mackley whose luggage was left in Sydney!

Typhoon Krosa formed on 1st October 2007 in the Pacific Ocean between Guam and the northern Philippines. I keep a close eye on every newly developed storm and the soon to be Krosa was no exception.

It was two days before it became apparent that Krosa was now look set to strengthen into a powerful typhoon and threaten the east coast of China or Taiwan. On the 4th October when JTWC had upped Krosa’s strength to 120 knots and forecast further intensification to 140 knots and a path brushing northern Taiwan that I started to prepare for a potential intercept.

JTWC warning 11 - https://metocph.nmci.navy.mil/jtwc.php

I got in touch with Geoff in Auckland immediately and it did not take us long to decide that Krosa was definitely worth going after. A frantic call to my travel agent later and I was booked to arrive in Taipei via Macau late on 5th October, only 36 hours before forecast landfall.

The forecast track of Krosa was swinging more erratically than a windscreen wiper and my whole trip to Taiwan was spent nervously checking updates to see if Taiwan was the best place to be heading.

My flight into Taipei was horrendous, one of the most turbulent and uncomfortable flights I have ever taken. We slammed hard onto the runway and the aircraft shuddered violently sideways as the crew tried to keep on the centreline. It was obvious that the airport was on extreme limits for weather and was going to close imminently. Only two other flights made it in after mine, one of which was Geoff’s.

Geoff was not looking happy as he came through into the arrivals hall. It turned out that the airline had left his luggage in Sydney including batteries for all his cameras as well as his clothes and wet weather gear!

The next morning our priority was to hire a car, buy emergency supplies and head over to the northeast coast of Taiwan. Krosa was blowing 125 knots sustained and due to make landfall in less than 12 hours which did not give us much time to get into position.

The winds were already surprisingly fierce and it was obvious that Krosa was packing a large wind field. Our first target was the port city of Jilong, about 20 miles north of Taipei. When we arrived in the city the conditions were atrocious, much more so than they should have been given Krosa was still about 8 hours away from landfall.

We decided to check the latest updates whilst in the car (using mobile internet card) and discovered to our surprise Krosa had changed direction and was now on a straight westerly crash course with the coast. Landfall was only about 2 hours away!

We found the most exposed area near the coast in Jilong and were buffeted by intense winds and blinding rains. This seemed like the perfect place to test out my new anemometer and take some wind speed readings.

The blinding fury of typhoon Krosa's eyewall in Jilong, northeastern Taiwan

I struggle against the fierce conditions in Jilong to take wind speed measurements

Time was rapidly running out before landfall so we decided to try and drive to the far northeast coast where we estimated conditions would be the most severe. The road followed the coastline around the NE tip of the island and we were afforded great views as huge waves smashed the coastline and waters surged out of the numerous small harbours we passed.

Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau warning for typhoon Krosa prior to landfall - http://www.cwb.gov.tw/V5e/index.htm

Waves smash against the coastline of Taiwan ahead of typhoon Krosa's landfall

Water surges out of Fulong harbour in NE Taiwan

We continued along the east coast as far as Ilan to try and punch into the core of Krosa. The high mountains of Taiwan’s interior sheltered us from the worst of the winds but we still managed to see some spectacular effects of the typhoon including local people getting pounded by the rain and a waterfall blowing up the side of a mountain!

A waterfall blown back up the mountainside by typhoon Krosa's fierce winds

According to the Joint Typhoon Warning Centre (JTWC) Krosa made landfall with approximate winds of 125 knots sustained. Although Geoff and I did not witness winds this strong we saw incredible winds and phenomenal rains and managed to capture the full fury of the typhoon on film. Another successful storm chase in Taiwan!

JTWC warning 20 showing typhoon Krosa offshore Taiwan with sustained winds of 125 knots. (Image courtesy of JTWC.)