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If it remains on current course, Haima is forecast to peak at 8 a.m. Wednesday, still well off shore, but is expected to retain super-typhoon strength as it plows past the northeastern tip of Luzon and through the Babuyan and Batanes island groups Thursday morning.

If it remains on current course, Haima is forecast to peak at 8 a.m. Wednesday, still well off shore, but is expected to retain super-typhoon strength as it plows past the northeastern tip of Luzon and through the Babuyan and Batanes island groups Thursday morning. (NOAA.gov)

Noon Tuesday, Oct, 18, Philippines time: Latest from the Joint Typhoon Warning Center shows Typhoon Haima forecast to peak at just below super-typhoon strength. But it's still going to be a vicious beast. We're looking at 144-mph sustained winds and 173-mph gusts as Haima makes its way over the northeastern tip of Luzon and the Philippines' northern island groups. At 8 a.m., Haima was 741 miles east of Manila, tracking west-northwest at 15 mph. Public Storm Warning Signal 1 is up for areas of the Philiippines in the path of Haima's forecast arrival. The former Clark Air Base and Subic Bay Naval Station and Metro Manila appear as if they'll be relatively out of harm's way. Haima is forecast to pass 220 miles north-northeast of Clark early Thursday morning. But there should still be quite a bit of breeze and downpours associated with Haima.11:30 a.m. Monday, Oct. 17, Philippines time: Haima continues intensifying and is forecast to peak as a Category 5-equivalent super typhoon, 167-mph sustained winds and 201-mph gusts as it nears the Philippines' northernmost islands.

At 8 a.m., Haima was 260 miles north-northwest of Yap, headed west-northwest at 16 mph, packing 115-mph sustained winds and 144-mph gusts at center.

If it remains on current course, Haima is forecast to peak at 8 a.m. Wednesday, still well off shore, but is expected to retain super-typhoon strength as it plows past the northeastern tip of Luzon and through the Babuyan and Batanes island groups Thursday morning.

Haima would be the fifth super typhoon of the northwest Pacific season. As if the Batanes and Babuyan islands haven't had enough problems, given what occurred last month when Meranti came calling.

Noon Sunday, Oct. 16, Philippines time: Haima wasted little time, just 1½ days, to become a Category 1-equivalent typhoon, packing 75-mph sustained winds and 92-mph gusts as it continues tracking west-northwest at 10 mph just northeast of Yap. Haima is due to graze the northeast coast of Luzon in the northern Philippines early Thursday, and forecast to peak at 161-mph sustained winds and 198-mph gusts at center – becoming the fifth super typhoon of the northwest Pacific’s tropical-cyclone season – sometime Wednesday.

11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 15, Philippines time: Haima wasted little time morphing into a tropical storm. It remains on track to become the fifth super typhoon of the season and to graze the northeastern tip of Luzon early Wednesday, according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center.

At 8 a.m., Haima – Chinese for sea horse – was 356 miles south of Naval Base “Big Navy” on Guam, tracking northweset at 8 mph with 40-mph sustained winds and 52-mph gusts at center.

If it remains on its current course, Haima should peak at 155-mph sustained winds and 184-mph gusts at mid-morning Tuesday, a day before reaching Luzon’s northeastern tip, still packing a mean punch, 144-mph sustained winds and 167-mph gusts. The Batanaes and Babuyan island groups could also take a pounding.

7:30 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 15, Philippines time: As if the news couldn’t get any worse for the northern Philippines, a new tropical depression spawned overnight Friday south of Guam According to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center, 25W could power through northern Luzon and the Batanes and Babuyan island groups as the fifth super typhoon of the season by next Thursday or Friday. Some models even show 25W turning toward Okinawa in the very long term.

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Dave Ornauer has been employed by or assigned to Stars and Stripes Pacific almost continuously since March 5, 1981. He covers interservice and high school sports at DODEA-Pacific schools and manages the Pacific Storm Tracker.

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