Powerful Pacific typhoon could threaten Japan by weekend

A satellite photo shows Typhoon ‘Noru’ (right corner) swirling northeast of the Philippines. Weather forecasters say Noru can threaten Japan by the weekend. PAGASA IMAGE

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — A powerful Pacific typhoon that intensified into the Northern Hemisphere’s strongest storm of the year but has since lost some of its punch could still threaten Japan by this weekend.

Typhoon Noru on Tuesday was packing maximum sustained winds of 204 kilometers (127 miles) per hour with gusts of up to 250 kilometers (155 miles) per hour, according to the U.S. military’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center.

That makes it the equivalent of a Category 4 cyclone. The Weather Channel said Noru reached Category 5 at its peak Monday and was the Northern Hemisphere’s strongest storm of 2017.

The Weather Channel said Noru should move slowly northwestward and could make landfall in Japan by this weekend, although it was still too early to be certain that would occur. CBB