Supertyfoon Trami richting Japanse eilanden

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Tyfoon Trami strengthens towards Taiwan en Japanese Islands
The newest storm in the western Pacific Ocean will track through the Philippine Sea, continuing to gather strength before impacting land later in the week.

Trami developed into a tropical storm just northwest of Guam late on Friday night eastern Asia time. Guam experienced wind gusts as high as 55 km/h (35 mph) earlier on Friday when this system passed over the island as a depression.

Early Sunday morning, Trami reached typhoon strength.

An area of high pressure stationed east of Japan will push Trami slowly westward through the early week. During the middle of the week, the storm may stall before accelerating once again towards the Ryukyu Islands and East China Sea late in the week.

With hundreds of miles of the Philippine Sea between this tropical system and its next landfall, communities have several days to prepare for possible impacts from Trami.

"As the storm approaches the continent, we will have a better idea of where it will go," said AccuWeather Meteorologist Rob Richards.

This storm could impact northern Taiwan or even eastern China. However, it is more likely that the storm will turn northward towards Japan before tracking this far to the west.

"Residents and anyone with interests across Japan, Taiwan and eastern China need to keep an eye on this storm," Richards said.

Light wind shear and warm ocean waters ahead of Trami indicate it will have plenty of opportunity for further strengthening as it slowly tracks northwestward - Trami may become a super typhoon by the middle of the week.

By late week, the weather across Taiwan and the Ryukyu Islands of Japan could be influenced by this storm. Residents across these areas should begin taking steps in case of a direct hit. Mainland Japan could see impacts by the weekend