WATCH ABOVE: Global’s Chief Meteorologist Anthony Farnell gives an update on Super Typhoon Vongfong making its way over the western Pacific Ocean.
TORONTO – Super Typhoon Vongfong has become the strongest tropical storm of 2014.
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On Wednesday, the storm was producing fierce winds of 270 km/h and ocean swells of around 15 metres. The storm is a Category 5 on the Saffir-Simpson scale, and is located about 940 km south-southeast of American Kadena Air Base, which is south of central Japan.
The storm is the strongest since November 2013’s Super Typhoon Haiyan — one of the strongest ever — which made landfall in the Philippines, killing more than 5,000 people.
READ MORE: Why Super Typhoon Haiyan was so destructive
The storm is moving northwestward at roughly 13 km/h over relatively warm ocean waters, which is responsible for the storm’s strength. As it continues on this track, it is expected to turn more towards the north.
Vongfong is expected to reach central Japan by early Sunday when it will make landfall near Nagasaki as a much-weakened Category 1.
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