by James Ruggia
Last updated: 2:46 PM ET, Thu October 9, 2014
Photo courtesy of NASA
This typhoon season is taking its toll on Japan's well-known ability to face crisis calmly. Just a few days after mostly dodging a major crisis from Typhoon Phanfone, now Japan is facing what meteorologists are calling the year's strongest cyclone. Thankfully early reports suggest the storm will lose much of its steam over the coming weekend before hitting Japan, though it will bring torrential winds and rain when it hits on Monday.
Phanfone passed over Okinawa last week leaving several dead including at least one American airman. It also wreaked havoc at both of Tokyo's airports and at Osaka and Fukuoka disrupting hundreds of flights. At their zenith, the winds within Vongfong reached a steady 150 mph.
Though it's losing steam, it's still expected to hit the Japanese islands of Kadena and Okinawa with ferocity. At its current rate, the storm will strike the U.S. military islands on Saturday and Sunday, followed by landfall on Japan itself sometime Monday night.
"It's safe to say Vongfong is the strongest storm on earth since Haiyan last year," said Michael Lowry, a storm specialist for The Weather Channel.
At the U.S. military's largest base in Asia, Kadena Air Base, they're readying for a major hit.
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