Typhoon Koinu makes landfall in southern Taiwan
Today’s Image of the Day from NASA Earth Observatory features Typhoon Koinu as the storm headed toward the southeastern coast of Taiwan on October 4, 2023.
“The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor on NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired this image of Koinu at approximately 1 p.m. local time on October 4,” said NASA.
“Its eye was about 200 kilometers (125 miles) off the coast of Taiwan and moving westward over the sea at 13 kilometers (8 miles) per hour, according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center. Sustained wind speeds reached an estimated 210 kilometers (130 miles) per hour, nudging it into territory equivalent to a category 4 hurricane.”
Early Thursday, Typhoon Koinu made landfall in Cape Eluanbi, the southernmost tip of Taiwan. The storm delivered the strongest wind speeds ever recorded in the country.
According to the official Central News Agency, a weather monitoring station on the outlying Orchid Island measured a wind gust of 342.7 kph (212.9 mph) at 9:53 p.m., as well as sustained winds that reached 198.7 kph (123.5 kph) at 9:40 p.m.
Both values set all-time highs since Taiwan began keeping records of wind speeds in 1897, said Huang Chia-mei, head of the Central Weather Administration’s Taitung Weather Station.
Typhoon Koinu, which has weakened substantially, is expected to dump heavy rainfall across coastal areas of southern China over the weekend.
Image Credit: NASA Earth Observatory
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