Typhoon Mangkhut, otherwise known as ‘Ompong’ locally, has now begun to dig its roots into the Philippines.
At 6.40pm (1.40am local time), the typhoon hit the island of Luzon in Baggao, Cagayan with maximum 127mph winds.
On the Saffir-Simpson scale the typhoon would register as a category 3 hurricane, among the strongest of its kind.
Mangkhut is expected to track over the island before hitting the mountainous regions of the area and weakening significantly.
How to track typhoon Mangkhut
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Typhoon Mangkhut is among a number of different severe storms currently forming in the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean.
This is because the hurricane season is in full swing, the United States and other Atlantic/Pacific nations are to be blasted by a constant barrage of heavy winds and rain.
The season will traditionally last until November, meaning many meteorological services will be keeping a trained eye on developing storms.
Currently, there are two core services vital for tracking the onset of the typhoon, from both the USA and the Philippines itself.
Typhoon Mangkhut is being tracked using satellite imagery and monuoring tools by meterological agencies JTWC and PAGASA.
In the USA, the Joint Typhoon Warning Centre (JTWC) has been tracking Mangkhut’s path, regularly putting out satellite imagery and warnings of what to expect.
Based in Honolulu, the service has been tracking and naming hurricanes since 1945, and has a keen eye on the typhoon.
Locally, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) is responsible for monitoring storm systems.
PAGASA provides regular updates and advisories for people living in the Philippines, and tracks the position of typhoons by the hour.
The service is the go-to agency for monitoring hazards to local people, and the site at the moment has an advisory for those in the path of the storm.
The latest warning from PAGASA reads: “Residents are advised to take appropriate actions against possible flooding and landslides, coordinate with local disaster risk reduction and management offices, and to continue monitoring for updates.”
The meteorological service also issues regular videos on its own YouTube channel, updating people on a storm situation and providing regular weather reports.
Notably, Philippine-based agencies will be calling the typhoon ‘Ompong’, due to their own naming practices.
Originally, the JTWC began the tradition in 1945, using women’s name for each hurricane they named in alphabetical order.
They later added men’s names into the mix, hence why a hurricane name Chris made landfall recently in Bermuda.
In Asia, the Philippine Weather Bureau was first responsible for naming storms, starting in 1963.
Now duties have been taken over by PAGASA, but the organisation continues the tradition, giving hurricanes female Filipino names traditionally ending in ng.