Supertyphoon Haiyan is intensifying and is on a path towards the Philippines.
This is Haiyan. She's a Typhoon.
Via accuweather.com
A Typhoon is a storm system just like Hurricanes and Cyclones
The difference being that hurricanes (after the Caribbean god of evil, named Hurrican) are storm systems that form in the Atlantic Ocean and Northeast Pacific Ocean. Typhoons (from the Greek word Typhoeus, a hundred-headed monster in Greek mythology interpreted as a whirlwind) are storms that form in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. And Cyclones (because it swirls) are storm systems that form in the southeastern Indian Ocean and southwestern Pacific. source
Via kylenorrisart.blogspot.com
Typhoon Haiyan is projected to have winds between 260km/h and 300km/h before landfall
Can we call it Super Haiyan now...
Via tumblr.com
If there was a Signal #5, this would be it.
The Philippines measures storm strength as Signals, and any storm above 185km/h is a Signal #4. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) considers any storm system with sustained winds of over 240 km/h as a Supertyphoon. The Saffir-Simpson Scale would consider Haiyan a rare Category 5.
Via wikipedia.org