The Western Pacific remains quite active on this late Friday morning (EDT). Earlier in the week, Hurricaneville mentioned that there were two systems in this region. One of them was Tropical Storm Koppu, which made landfall in Southern China southwest of Hong Kong. The other was a Super Typhoon, Choi-Wan.

Choi-Wan became the strongest storm in any of the basins this season with winds of Category Five Strength at 160 miles per hour a short time later. The strongest storm in the Eastern Pacific was Hurricane Jimena, which had winds sustained just below Category Five intensity at 155 miles per hour. Meanwhile, in the Atlantic, the most powerful storm of the season was Hurricane Bill, which had maximum sustained winds of 135 miles per hour, or Category Four strength on the Saffir-Simpson Scale.

Since peaking as a powerful Super Typhoon, Choi-Wan has since waned. According to the latest report from the Joint Typhoon Warning Center, maximum sustained winds have slackened to just 110 knots, or 125 miles per hour. Winds are gusting to 155 knots. The storm is moving to the Northeast at about 12 miles per hour, and is tracking very close to the islands of Iwo To and Chichi Jima.

The outskirts of Tokyo and the rest of Central Japan just lies outside of the outer fringes of the forecast cone. The storm is projected to curve to the Northeast, and then East with time and avoid the main island of Japan. Choi-Wan is forecast to strengthen over the next 12 hours after dealing with an eyewall replacement cycle, which may have contributed to the weakening of the storm. Hurricaneville will continue to monitor the progress of this system.