[neodad]

Skirted around Super Typhoon Omar in 1992 off of Korea. Not fun. We were taking waves over the bridge, which was 40 feet above the waterline.

[HAL9000]

NOAA.gov -

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI 1000 AM HST FRI AUG 25 2006

...HURRICANE IOKE BECOMES FIFTH CATEGORY 5 HURRICANE IN CENTRAL PACIFIC AND UNOFFICIALLY HOLD THE LOWEST SEA LEVEL PRESSURE RECORD IN THE CENTRAL PACIFIC...

EARLIER TODAY HURRICANE IOKE STRENGTHENED TO CATEGORY 5 INTENSITY WITH WINDS ESTIMATED TO BE NEAR 160 MPH. THIS IS THE FIFTH CATEGORY 5 HURRICANE ON RECORD IN THE CENTRAL PACIFIC...AND THE FIRST ONE SINCE 1994. IOKE IS THE FIRST STORM TO DEVELOP WITHIN THE CENTRAL PACIFIC AND ACHIEVE CATEGORY 5 STATUS. JOHN...EMILIA AND GILMA MOVED IN FROM THE EASTERN PACIFIC BEFORE STRENGTHENING...WHILE PATSY CAME IN FROM THE WEST PACIFIC.

IT MUST BE NOTED THAT TROPICAL CYCLONE RECORDS IN THE CENTRAL PACIFIC BEFORE THE EARLY 1960S ARE INCOMPLETE.

THE TOP STRONGEST STORMS ON RECORD IN THE CENTRAL PACIFIC ARE
1. HURRICANE PATSY - CATEGORY 5 - 150KT/175MPH - SEPTEMBER 1959
2. HURRICANE JOHN - CATEGORY 5 - 150KT/175MPH - AUGUST 1994
3. HURRICANE EMILIA- CATEGORY 5 - 140KT/160MPH - JULY 1994
4. HURRICANE GILMA - CATEGORY 5 - 140KT/160MPH - JULY 1994
5. HURRICANE IOKE - CATEGORY 5 - 140KT/160MPH - AUGUST 2006
6. HURRICANE RICK - CATEGORY 4 - 125KT/145MPH - SEPTEMBER 1985
7. HURRICANE INIKI - CATEGORY 4 - 125KT/145MPH - SEPTEMBER 1992
8. HURRICANE FABIO - CATEGORY 4 - 120KT/140MPH - AUGUST 1988

AT THE SAME TIME...THE ESTIMATED SURFACE PRESSURE FROM SATELLITE ANALYSIS WAS 921MB OR 27.20 INCHES.

WITH GILMA AND JOHN THERE WAS AIR FORCE RECONNAISANCE AIRCRAFT THAT MEASURED SEA LEVEL PRESSURE. GILMA BOTTOMED OUT AT 926MB OR 27.35 INCHES AND JOHN REACHED 929MB OR 27.43 INCHES. HURRICANE INIKI WAS AT 938MB OR 27.70 INCHES AT ITS PEAK.

NASH

[Not A Snowbird]

Super Typhoons are no fun. I spent three days trapped indoors by Super Typhoon Wynne in 1980.

They didn't evacuate us, because honestly, how do you evacuate the entire island of Okinawa? They just told us not to come to work.

[conservative in nyc]

Wake Island is where the light blue dot is on this map. It's where America's Day (truly) Begins - not Guam:

[Revel]

There won't be anything left there after this thing passes over.

[Revel]

The highest elevation on that tiny island is 6 meters.

[SoCal_Republican]

Clearly Bush's fault.

[Rembrandt]

You can literally see the media here in Florida salivating and praying for a hurricane. Finally, they think Ernesto may be the answer to their prayers. Otherwise, they're just going to go back to the same old tired bashing of GW and Katherine Harris.

[golfdisc]

Anyone know if Ioke is headed towards Hawaii and if so what is ETA?

[conservative in nyc]

Here's an update. Wake Island has been evacuated and Ioke is expected to make a pretty direct hit:

Category 5 hurricane Ioke (ee-OH'-kay), the 12th typhoon this year, continued westward as it passed the international dateline, packing winds of 160 mph and gusts up to 185 mph. It will begin tracking northwest and strike Wake Island at about 02:00 GMT on 31 August.

The typhoon force winds near the center of Ioke will continue to send large north and northeast waves towards the Marshall islands, said the latest National Weather Service storm advisory, issued Tuesday, August 28, 8:00 p.m. Guam time (11:00 p.m. Majuro time)

The U.S. Airforce evacuated all 200 workers from Wake yesterday. The eye of the typhoon could come within three miles of Wake by Wednesday at 2:00 p.m. The 18-ft to 40-ft storm surges may submerge the small island which is only 18-ft at its highest level and destroy eveything that is not made of concrete, said a NWS forecaster in Hawaii according, reported AP.

Tuesday night, the center of super typhoon Ioke, tracking west-northwest at 9 mph, was located near latitude 16.3 degrees north and longitude 173.0 degrees east. This is about 470 miles east-southeast of Wake Island, 420 miles north-northeast of Utirik and and 770 miles east-northeast of Enewetak, and 645 miles north of Majuro.

The typhoon center is expected to stay well-north of the Marshall Islands. Current advisories include hazardous surf of 10 to 12 feet along east and northeast facing reefs of Utirik, Wotje and Enewetak.

According to a NWS forecaster, Ioke is currently ranked the fifth-strongest storm ever seen in the Central Pacific in the Central Pacific, and is the first Category 5 storm in the region since 1994.

Typhoon Ioke is one of the longest-sustained storms in world history, having stayed at Category 4 for a week.

Ioke hit Johnston Atoll on August 23 with winds of 105 mph, and gusts of up to 125 mph. Thirteen people aboard a Air Force research vessel took shelter on Johnston in a concrete shelter designed for Category 4 storms.

[DungeonMaster]

That's one boring target.